Red String of Coincidences
by VamphigherQueen
Summary: All it took was a string of coincidences to show two complete strangers how small the world really is.
1. Wrong Number

**I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA!**

* * *

Inuyasha was in his apartment sleeping peacefully when his wonderful rest was disrupted by a text message alert on his phone. He awoke with a growl in his throat and angrily opened the message; eyes squinted from the bright glare on his phone.

"_Can you please help me? I'm scared."_

"What…the…fffuck?" He wondered out loud, further drawn from sleepiness due to the disturbing message.

"_Who is this?"_ He replied. He lied in his bed with one eye open, stomach turning from the message.

"_Kagome. I know we haven't spoken in a long time but I'm totally blasted and the only girl out here. I don't wanna get raped. Please help? I'm begging you."_

"Kagome? Who the hell is that? I don't know any girl named Kagome." Just as he was about to respond and tell her he didn't know her, she sent another message.

"_I'm by the WacDnalds near the strip mall. Please. I won't bother you again if you just come pick me up."_

Inuyasha shook his head and put down his phone. He tried to get comfortable in bed and ignore the message but his conscience was eating away at him. Even if this girl was a stranger, she seemed to be in trouble. He sat up, put on some pants, grabbed his car keys and walked towards the door.

"What am I doing? This could be a joke." He thought, stopping as he took the chain off the door. "But I'd feel like shit if I hear about this girl on the news and I'm the last person she spoke to." He quickly made his way to his car and took the ride to pick up a stranger.

* * *

"I must really be a fucking idiot. I still don't know why the hell I'm doing this. She could be a killer! It may not even be a she for all I know." Regardless of what Inuyasha had told himself, he couldn't stop himself from going…as if he _needed_ to go.

"Uh…I'll just check out the area."

Inuyasha slowly pulled up by the strip mall and saw how dead the streets were. This wasn't the nicest part of the city. Actually, it had to be the worst. There were a few homeless people laid out on the sidewalk and some others doing what looked like a drug trade. As he stopped by WacDnalds he saw a young—really young looking girl leaned up against the gate. 'Nah, she's no killer.' He thought, rolling down the window. He noticed how frail and innocent she looked. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he left the poor girl out there.

"Hey, are you Kagome?"

She lazily turned her head in his direction and slowly wobbled over to his car. He could tell she really was blasted. Off what? It was anyone's guess.

"Hi. Um…who are you?" She asked, brushing her hair off her face.

"I'm the guy you texted. Get in. It's really dangerous over here."

Kagome was so high, she and didn't really have the wherewithal to handle her own self so she just got in his car without question. He could have been a killer or a psycho kidnapper, but she couldn't help but trust him.

His amber eyes met her dilated brown ones. He looked sleepy and displeased and she looked high and disoriented.

"So…_you_…got my text?"

"Yeah. I don't know who you were looking for but you had the wrong number."

"You came for me not knowing who I was? You really didn't have to do that." She smiled.

"Keh! I know I didn't. I wasn't going to either but I would've felt bad if you died and I was the last person to hear from you."

"I see." Kagome slouched in the seat and continued to stare at him, unable to look away.

"Your ears…" She said in a low voice. "You have cute dog ears." She reached out to touch them.

"Yeah, thanks for pointing that out." He said sarcastically, pushing her hand away. "Now where do you live?"

Her mouth fell open slightly as her eyes began to close and she slouched in the seat more. She was extremely inebriated and couldn't keep her composure one bit.

"Hey! Where do you live?" He nudged her, getting a little annoyed. He had class in a few hours and this was really cutting into his sleep time.

"Huh?" She opened her eyes and looked around, scratching at the marks in her arm from shooting up. "Oh, hi."

Inuyasha rested his head on the steering wheel. 'Just my fucking luck.' He sighed, trying to regain his patience. "Where. Do. You. Live?" He asked for the third time, hoping he'd finally get an answer so he could go home.

"At the Higurashi shrine. I thought I told you already but I must have thought it and not said it out loud." She covered her mouth as she giggled.

Inuyasha gawked at her like she was out of her mind. Kagome definitely was out of her mind.

He ignored the drugged up girl's behavior and took off in the direction of her home. 'Damn, how could someone from a line of shrine keepers be caught up in a drug life?'

Kagome tried to keep her eyes open and looked at the time on her phone. It was 3:47 AM. "Oh no. I hope I can get up for school in the morning."

"You ain't the only one!" Inuyasha said. "My professor gets pissed whenever one of his students is late."

"You're in college?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow. "I'm still in middle school. It's my last year."

"So you're like 15, right? What the hell are you doing out this late? Don't you have curfew or something?"

"No! My mom lets me do whatever I want."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Yeah, seems like it's working in your favor." He said, sarcastically.

Kagome scoffed and crossed her arms. "I was with some friends and I lost track of time, that's all. Usually, I'm not out this late."

"Whatever. It's your life." He said apathetically as he pulled up at the shrine. "Well…here you are. You alright?"

Kagome nodded slowly and opened the car door. "Thank you."

"Just go home and stop getting in trouble."

"Kay." She got out and headed up the steps to her shrine.

Inuyasha stayed long enough to watch her struggle up to her house when she fell on the steps and lied there without movement.

"Oh shit." He quickly hopped out of the car, rushed up to Kagome and lifted her into his arms as she breathed heavily.

"M-my chest hurts…really bad. I c-can't breathe." She panted out as tears slowly flowed from her eyes.

"Do you wanna go to the hospital?"

"No, no, no I can't." She quickly responded in a scared voice as she shook her head. "This happened before and m-my ex used to bring me in the house and bring me some water."

Inuyasha sighed. 'This girl is such a headache.' "Come on." He lifted her with ease and carried her towards her house."

"You're…such a kind person. You have a heart of gold."

"I'd rather be in bed right now." He said as he slid the door open.

Kagome smiled and rested her head against his shoulder. "You can bring me upstairs. The door at the end of the hall to the right is my room."

Inuyasha held Kagome tightly as he brought her up the stairs. He started to feel feverish and woozy. 'The lack of sleep must be getting to me.' He thought as he brought to the top of the steps.

He opened her door and set her down on the bed. "I'll go get you some water."

As Kagome waited for Inuyasha to return, she slipped off her clothes and put her nightgown on.

Inuyasha came in and brought her a glass of water.

"Thank you." She said as she brought the glass to her lips with her shaky hands.

"So…you okay here? Can I go?"

Kagome nodded and put the glass down on her nightstand. "Just…tell me your name before you go?"

"It's Inuyasha."

Kagome smiled and pulled the covers over herself. "Inu...yasha. I'll remember that." She slowly closed her eyes and began to fall asleep.

He took one look at her and shook his head. 'She looks too innocent to be caught up in all of this.'

Inuyasha rushed downstairs and let himself out. As he got in his car and put the key in the ignition, he mulled over everything that just happened. 'What a weird fucking night.' He thought as he drove off.

* * *

Once Inuyasha got home, he dropped his pants on the floor and got back in his bed. His mind turned back to Kagome and how bad she looked. He wanted to feel like a good person for picking her up and getting her away from danger, but he had a feeling she'd get into trouble again.

"Why am I even worrying about that girl? Whatever she decides to do with herself is her business."

He continued to lie in bed and try to fall asleep, but he couldn't shake the thought out of his mind. Kagome was three years younger than him and she was caught up in the life of drugs. It bothered the hell out of him.

Inuyasha decided to call his girlfriend, Kikyo. He knew she'd be awake since she worked the night shift at the hospital.

"Hi, hun, what are you doing up?"

"The craziest thing happened to me not too long ago."

"Really? Tell me about it."

* * *

**Hope you like it so far!**

**read, review, yada yadda the whole 9 yards...**

**thank you for reading my other fics :) ****xo**

**-VQ**


	2. Won't Hear From Me Again

_A week later..._

Inuyasha was busy working on a paper when his phone rang. He answered without checking to see who was calling.

"Hello?"

"Hi. It's Kagome."

Inuyasha's face fell flat. He knew this girl was going to get into more trouble; it was only a matter of time.

"Oh, great. What did you do now?"

"C-can you come pick me up?"

"What happened to the person whose number you thought this was? Can't you get in touch with them?"

"I already tried!"

"Well how were you getting home before you started calling me?"

"My ex boyfriend used to drive me home."

"Well where the hell is he?"

"His mom sent him to boot camp. Pleeeease, Inuyasha? I don't know who else to ask."

'This girl has got to be kidding.' Inuyasha thought. He didn't want to pick her up. He wanted her to stop bothering him at the worst possible times, but he couldn't say no.

"Where are you?"

"Same spot as last time."

"Stay there I'm coming."

* * *

Kagome stood on the corner studying her surroundings. It was only 10:30. She could've easily walked home but she took acid with her friends and was tripping. She just didn't want to be alone in that state.

'Are those buildings…melting?'

She gazed at the liquefying building and swirling sky when Inuyasha pulled up at the corner.

Kagome hadn't even noticed Inuyasha pulled up because she was so distracted by the strange scenery. She knew it wasn't real but it surely was fascinating.

Inuyasha looked up trying to figure out what she was so fascinated with. Then he remembered she was a drug user so she was more than likely hallucinating. He let out an exasperated sigh and got out of the car to get Kagome.

"Hey. Let's go."

She diverted her attention to him and stared, wide eyed. Inuyasha didn't know exactly what she was seeing but he walked her to the car and began to drive off.

"Didn't I tell you to stay out of trouble?" Inuyasha admonished.

Kagome looked down sadly, saying nothing in return.

"Why do you do this? Didn't I just fucking scrape you off your stairs last week because you were suffering from side effects? You need to stop doing drugs before you get too caught up and end up killing yourself. You're way too young for this."

Tears trickled down Kagome's eyes as she quickly wiped them away.

Inuyasha looked over at her and started to feel bad for making her cry but all he did was tell the truth.

"Don't cry! Just…just stop getting into these situations. What if I wasn't able to pick you up? You're putting yourself in serious danger."

Kagome had nothing to say in return. She couldn't argue, tell him he was wrong or even demand he mind his business. So the ride was silent, aside from Kagome's small sniffles and sighs all the way to her house.

Just as she turned to open the door, she stopped and faced Inuyasha. "Hey…can I have some money?"

Inuyasha gave her a blank stare. 'This girl is really fucking nervy.' He thought, shaking his head. "I'm not giving you drug money."

"It's not for drugs!" She denied angrily. "I spent all my money to get to school on drugs."

"Fine!" Inuyasha reached into his wallet and gave her the few dollars he had in it. "Now can you please stop doing this?"

Kagome accepted the money with gratitude and opened the car door. "I can't make you any promises, but I'll leave you alone. I know that's what you want."

"Don't go putting words in my mouth! I never said—"

Kagome reached her hand up to his cheek and smiled through her sad tears. "Thank you. Honestly."

Inuyasha began to feel devastated, like he could sense her sadness…or an old friend was walking out of his life. He didn't understand what he was feeling but he knew he was hurting. He rested his hand on top of hers and looked in her eyes. "Kagome…"

"You won't be hearing from me again. So don't worry." She smiled as she let go of his cheek and got out the car, closing the door behind her.

Inuyasha looked on as Kagome walked up the steps to her shrine, stopped, stared at something on the step and kept going. Once she was no longer in his view he pulled off.

'What the hell was that? Talk about awkward.'

* * *

When Inuyasha got home, he couldn't concentrate one bit on that paper he had to do. He tried to call Kikyo like last time, but she didn't answer, which happened often. What else would he expect from such a busy woman? He was at the bottom of her list of important things.

Inuyasha decided to change and get in bed. It didn't make sense to stay up too late since he had school and work the next day but he couldn't stop thinking about Kagome. Even though he had never seen her sober, she seemed like a sweet, harmless girl. Nothing about her portrayed the habits or attitude of a serious druggie or anything of that nature. He assumed she just had problems.

He lied in bed thinking about her for a long time. He couldn't help but feel guilty for the way he reprimanded her and talked to her like she was a child. He wanted to apologize but, what for? Of course, she was pretty irritating because of the times she called and she was mixed up in a very dangerous life. What did he do wrong?

'It's not like there's anything more I can do for her.' He thought. 'The life she chooses to live is her business. I did what I could.' There was nothing more to think about. He took himself to sleep.

* * *

_Two months later_

Inuyasha didn't expect Kagome to be on his mind so often. Even her face was burned on the inside of his eyelids. From time to time, that devastated feeling and the pain in his chest would come back when he thought of her. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, he could feel her soft hand touch his face and he would wake up holding his cheek, disappointed. He didn't know what made him so obsessed with her.

Was it guilt?

He didn't know.

He tried to call her phone but it was disconnected, he drove by her house twice but couldn't catch a glimpse of her either time. He even knocked on the door once but no one answered.

Inuyasha started to fantasize about meeting her again. He tried to imagine her sober. He wondered what she was like when she didn't have any drugs in her system. He wondered how her eyes would look when her pupils weren't dilated.

He would wonder if she was dead, then convince himself she wasn't. He wanted to believe she would be fine like she told him she would be.

All he ever did was wonder.

'Maybe I'm just not supposed to see her again. But…I want to.'


	3. Of All Places

_One year later..._

Kagome had just finished school for the day and was walking to the train station. She wanted to get to her job interview quickly and make a great first impression.

Kagome was now sixteen. Since the last time she saw Inuyasha, she decided to turn her life around. She stopped hanging out with the wrong crowd, took the focus off her social life and put it on her schoolwork. Not only did it benefit her life and health, she got in to the school of her choice where she was reunited with her childhood friends.

Maybe she had Inuyasha to thank. Now, Kagome was never sure if his words came from the heart or if he was just trying to get her to stop calling, but the tone of his voice and the seriousness in his words seemed convincing and at least _someone_ was paying attention to what she was doing. Not only did he pay attention, he wanted her to stop. She thought about Inuyasha all the time, even missed him. She hoped she'd see him again one day, maybe in passing so she could show him the bright smile that never leaves her face and the new outlook on life she has.

Kagome stopped living so carelessly and foolishly and even went to a counseling program to make sure she never went back to the drug life again. After doing various types of drugs for seven months, you become addicted, not only to the drugs, but also to getting high. All Kagome wanted to do in middle school was get high and be around people who liked getting high. It wasn't working for her at all and it wasn't working for her grades either. Once she put the brakes on her recklessness, things became so much clearer and she felt like a new person. She had been drug free for 11 months and never felt better.

She was ready to take the next step as an employed high school student.

* * *

Kagome got off the train at her stop and rushed through the crowded station and down the steps. She checked the address on the paper and the time on her phone. If she moved quickly she'd be early.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" She stopped a random woman on the street. "Do you know where Shinjuku Fashion is?"

The woman nodded and pointed straight down the block. It wasn't far at all.

"Thank You!" Kagome bowed and rushed off in the direction of the store.

Once Kagome reached the door, she took a deep breath and silently prayed before stepping inside. She had never been to that store before but after looking around at all the great clothing and the atmosphere, she wanted the job more.

Kagome nervously walked up to the counter and waited for the distracted employee to turn around. She fidgeted her fingers and bit her lip as she waited.

"Hey, stupid you got someone at the counter!" One of the female employees on the floor called out.

The employee behind the counter stuck up their middle finger without so much as looking.

The female employee left her station and walked up to Kagome. "You need some help sweetie?"

Kagome nodded. "I'm looking for the manager. I'm here for a job interview."

"Oh, I see. Well that's the idiot assistant manager. You won't get much help from him." She said with a giggle.

Upon seeing how comfortable the staff was with one another, Kagome liked the place even more, but was a bit nervous about making friends and feeling out of place among the others.

The female employee went behind the counter and called the manager. "Hi, Mr. T, there's a young lady down here for an interview." The girl looked up at Kagome. "What's your name?"

"Higurashi, Kagome."

"Her name is Kagome…Oh, okay I'll let him know." The female employee hung up, walked over to the assistant manager and smacked him on the back of the head. "What are you doing? Your brother said interview this girl. Stop watching porn or whatever the heck—"

"I'm not watching porn, idiot. Don't you have something to do?" He spoke sarcastically.

The employee nudged him playfully. "Hmph." She came around from the counter and walked up to Kagome. "Sorry for all the trouble. He'll be with you soon."

Kagome smiled and nodded. She continued to wait patiently while the assistant manager did whatever he was doing.

The assistant manager finally turned his attention to Kagome. "Sorry I was uh—" He stopped mid-sentence and studied Kagome's face. "Ka-Kagome? Is that you?"

Kagome smiled happily upon seeing the familiar face. "Hi, Inuyasha! Small world isn't it?"

Inuyasha was dumbfounded. Of all the places in the world to see her again. "Yeah. Wow. This is crazy. How ya been?"

"Great! I've made a lot of changes in my life."

He was happy to see her alive, well and sober for a change. She looked so beautiful and happy and he was proud. "Well I'm glad to see you under better circumstances."

"The feeling's mutual."

"So uh…you want a job here right? Do you have any experience?" Not that he cared. He intended to hire her regardless. 'I'm not letting her disappear into thin air this time.'

"No, I've never had a job before."

"When can you work?"

"Any hours after two on weekdays."

"Okay, no problem. Sango will train you." He pointed to the female employee that Kagome had spoken to earlier. "That jerk over there."

"Are you referring to me, puppy?" Sango looked up, cutting her eyes at Inuyasha.

Kagome wasn't too sure about the dynamic of their relationship but all their disputes seemed playful since they were both laughing. She was just happy she got hired so easily. Inuyasha being the one to interview her definitely gave her a break.

"When do I start?"

"Now, if you want. We're missing a lot of people today."

"It's finals week!" Sango cut in. "Almost everyone that works here is in college."

Kagome felt even more out of place. She was the youngest and newest girl at the job, but she wanted to be there so she intended to manage.

"Come with me." Sango grabbed her hand. "I'll get you a uniform and get you all set."

Kagome followed Sango to the 'employees only' room. Sango seemed like a very nice person.

"Just out of curiosity, why do you and Inuyasha fight so much?"

"Oh that!" Sango waved her hand and laughed. "I've been near Inuyasha my whole life. We go to school together, we work together, we're neighbors. He's like my brother." She explained, handing her a red uniform shirt and a name tag.

Sango took out a sticker and wrote Kagome's name on it before placing it on a locker. "You can have the locker next to mine. After you change into your uniform, come to the counter and I'll show you how to work the register."

Kagome smiled happily. "Kay. I'll be out soon." She went into the bathroom and began to change.

Everything was happening so quickly. One minute she's seeing Inuyasha again, the next minute she has a job at the store where he's the assistant store manager. 'I applied for a lot of jobs and this was the only one I got a call back for. It's kind of weird…but a good weird.' She thought to herself with a smile.

Inuyasha was slouched over behind the counter, feeling slightly ill. "Damn! You're not hot, Sango?"

Sango looked over at him like he was crazy. "Inuyasha. I'm wearing a thermal under my work shirt. It's freezing in here since your brother makes it feel like the north pole with the AC."

Inuyasha sighed and wiped the sweat off his brow. "I think I got a fever or something."

She got close to his face and gave him a good look. "Inuyasha your eyes are red!"

"So? I am a little tire—"

"No! _Demon_ red!"

Inuyasha was scared. He never fully transformed before and had only gotten close to transforming once. He took a few deep breaths and a sip of water before he was able to relax.

Sango continued to stare but was at ease when his eyes slowly went back to normal. 'Why did that just happened to him?' "Do you want to go home?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "I can't go home! You and Kagome would be a mess without me!"

Sango shook her head and laughed. "Okay, just take it easy."

Kagome placed her belongings in her locker and went to train as Inuyasha annoyingly oversaw the two, horribly portraying his managerial attributes. Overall, it was a great first day. She enjoyed interacting with Inuyasha under normal circumstances.

* * *

At 6:30, It was time for Inuyasha to go home. Sango agreed to close for the night so she would be there for another two hours.

"Kagome, you can clock out now, too." He told her.

Kagome happily complied. She was pleased with her new set schedule, seeing how it gave her time to get home and still do homework. She went to her locker and took out her bag.

"Come on, I'm taking you home." Inuyasha told her.

"Are you sure? It's not too out of the way for you?"

"No, your house is on the way to my apartment so it's nothing."

"You remember where I live? It was so long ago!"

Inuyasha shrugged. "How could I forget you?"

Kagome smiled and blushed as she followed Inuyasha out and got in his car. It was the same as she remembered…or at least could remember. Except things were different this time; and so was she.

"I'm glad, you know." He began as he drove down the road. "That you're okay. I didn't want you to think I was just annoyed with you asking me to pick you up. I _was_ annoyed, but I didn't like the situation. You were in danger, doing what you were doing."

"I know. The morning after you drove me home, I decided to clean up my act and stop hanging out with that crowd. I guess being under so much stress I found the wrong outlet. My dad died right around the time I met those people. My mom pretty much became a hollow shell. She stopped paying attention to what we were doing and my brother and I were practically looking out for ourselves. I was just being selfish, I suppose. But things have gotten much better at home, too. I could have been a lot worse off."

"So no more trouble out of you right?"

Kagome giggled and shook her head. "No more trouble. I promise."

Inuyasha smiled as he stopped the car by her house. "That's a relief."

"I really wanted to see you again." She admitted with her head down. "You were so nice to me…but I figured…who would want to hang out with a druggie?"

"I never thought you were a druggie. I worried about you all the time. I even tried calling your phone once a-and I went to your house."

'He did all that for me?' Kagome reached over and hugged him. "Thank you so much for caring about me. I really appreciate it."

Inuyasha looked down at her and smiled as she squeezed him tightly. He returned her hug and held her, inhaling her scent, knowing she was safe…and it wasn't a dream.

After a few minutes, he realized it was wrong to be holding another girl in his car when he had a girlfriend so he reluctantly let go even though he didn't want to.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Kagome said happily as she got out of his car.

Inuyasha pulled off and sighed. He felt such strong relief, like he had gotten closure. He thought about Kagome constantly over the past year, wondering if she was dead or alive, hoping she would call if she needed something because even though she aggravated him by calling at the worst times, he didn't want her to die or get hurt. He had to admit, the first time she contacted him with that disturbing text message he was scared for her. He was scared of her overdosing, or being raped and even though she was fine now, he felt the need to protect her still. He didn't know what came over him or made him feel so strongly about a girl he hardly knew, but since they worked together, he'd end up knowing her and he was going to look out for her because it seemed like the best thing to do.

* * *

Inuyasha got home, stripped off all his clothes and lied in his bed. He'd been up for 14 hours and exhausted was an understatement for how he felt. He made an attempt to call Kikyo, which failed as it often did. He knew she had so much going on, with school, work and caring for her sister, but she didn't make much of an effort to contact him throughout the week. Sometimes seeing her on Sundays just wasn't enough. He'd just been with her so long, he felt like he had to adjust.

Inuyasha never complained about Kikyo to anyone. He portrayed her as the ideal girlfriend. The young nurse who cares for other people and studies hard to become a doctor. She was sweet, beautiful, caring and all the people who knew her, loved her. Inuyasha took pride in having Kikyo as his girlfriend.

'Sometimes it's nice to hear her voice and know she's doing okay.' He rolled over in bed, clutched his pillow and sighed. 'It's not like I'm lonely or nothin' he reasoned with himself. 'I just think if I can make time for you, you can make time for me too.'

Inuyasha stayed up as long as he could, waiting for Kikyo to return his call. She never returned his calls, but he still waited. He was thinking about how he felt feverish earlier and wondered why his demon tried to come out.

'What could have brought out my demon like that? I didn't sense any danger at all. But I'm glad I didn't fully transform. Who knows what could have happened.'

The last thing on his mind was Kagome: Sober, big, brown glowing eyes and very cheery. That was the way he imagined her over the past year. 'She's just what I thought she would be. Except I'm not fantasizing.'

Two hours went by and he was finally asleep.


	4. Nice Having You Around

_The Next Day_

Kagome walked into work and noticed all the missing employees from the day before were there. It made her feel a bit uneasy, but she was going to do her best to make sure everyone liked her.

"Is that the new girl?" One female employee asked Sango.

"Yup, that's Kagome."

"Ooh. She's cute!"

Sango waved her finger at her. "Hold on, Ayame. I don't know if she's into girls."

Ayame put her hands on her hips and cocked her head. "Sango. Every girl is into girls. They just haven't kissed the right one yet." She said with a wink.

Sango laughed and rolled her eyes.

Kagome waved at Sango as she went to her locker. She laughed when she saw Inuyasha sleeping in the back, mouth wide open drooling all over his book. She tried to quietly open her locker but failed and woke him anyway.

"Huh? I wasn't sleeping." He slurred out, wiping his face.

"Inuyasha, you were knocked out, drooling all over your book, don't kid yourself." She responded jokingly.

Another employee came in and he studied Kagome. "You're the new girl, right?"

Kagome looked at the boy. He was extremely attractive with long black hair and beautiful tan skin. "Y-yeah. My name is Kagome."

He gave her a head nod and a smile. "I'm Bankotsu. The uh…girls were out there talking about how cute you are…and you _are_ cute, I'll give you that." He noted as he threw his bag into his locker. "See you on the floor." He said coolly as he left.

Kagome's first real day of work was going better than she thought it would. At least everyone was saying nice things about her. She sighed contently and went in the bathroom and changed her clothes.

When she came back, she noticed Inuyasha was sleeping again.

"Hey." She shook his shoulder to wake him back up. "Are you alright? You want some coffee or something to keep you awake?"

Inuyasha shook his head and rested back on his arms. "I only got an hour of sleep. Cover for me, wouldja? If my brother comes downstairs, tell em I'm in the bathroom or something."

"Okay." She smiled and gently draped his jacket over his shoulders. "Have a good sleep." She told him as she went on her way.

Inuyasha picked up his head slightly to look at Kagome as she left. He pulled his jacket over his head and smiled. It was nice having her around.

* * *

**thank you for the reviews, faves, etc! :) keep em coming and I'll update quickly! **

**xoxo**

**-VQ**


	5. What's One Sunday Gonna Do?

_One month later_

Kagome entered a writing contest at school and won four tickets to an upcoming film festival. Her friends from school weren't interested in film festivals so they declined her offer to go. She decided to see if anyone from work wanted to go with her.

She walked into work happily and her good mood didn't go unnoticed.

"What's got you in such high spirits?" Sango asked curiously.

"I won four tickets to Sunday's film festival. You wanna go?"

"Yes! Thank you for the offer!" She responded gratefully.

Kagome smiled wide and handed Sango her ticket. She walked over to Inuyasha, who was actually _working_ for a change, setting up one of the store displays.

Kagome and Inuyasha had become great friends in their time working together. They took lunch breaks together, he took her home from time to time and they always had millions of things to talk about.

"Look, don't come over here distractin' me because you're a distracting person." Inuyasha said, obvious humor in his voice.

"I just came to ask you if you wanted to go to the film festival with me and Sango on Sunday. I know you love this kind of stuff since you're a film major and everything." She responded as she dangled the ticket in front of him.

Inuyasha thought for a moment. He knew he usually spent every Sunday with Kikyo, but he really did want to go. He wanted to spend time with Kagome outside of work. 'What's one Sunday gonna do?' He thought. "Yeah I'll go."

"Great!"

* * *

At the end of their shift, Inuyasha drove Sango and Kagome home.

"See you Sunday!" Kagome waved as she got out the car.

Sango switched to the front seat and Inuyasha pulled off in the direction of their building.

"You're coming with us too, huh?" Sango asked him.

"Yeah."

"So you're blowing off Kikyo? I know you usually go out of your way to see her on Sundays."

Inuyasha shrugged and sighed. "I'm sure she'll need the rest anyway."

"Oh! Kagome had an extra ticket and nothing to do with it. Why don't you ask her if—"

"NO! I-I mean…I don't want to just bring an extra person along."

"It's okay! I'm sure Kagome will _love_ Kikyo." She assured confidently.

The thought of that made him cringe. He wasn't sure why, but the idea of Kagome and Kikyo being around each other made his stomach turn.

Inuyasha parked his car in the parking lot. "Don't worry about it. I'll just find some way to make it up to Kikyo."

Sango slowly got out of the car and looked at Inuyasha. She didn't like the way he was acting.

The two continued to the elevator and Sango continued to stare at him.

"What is it now?" He asked suspiciously as her looks were making him uncomfortable.

"Is everything alright? With you…and Kikyo?"

'How the fuck does she catch onto everything?' He wondered as a lie quickly slipped off his tongue. "Yeah, what made you ask that?"

His answer was too quick and Sango was dissatisfied. "Well I know it's not my business but usually you would jump at the opportunity to include Kikyo in anything. Are you sure you're okay?"

Inuyasha laughed as they got out the elevator. "Come on! There's nothing to worry about. Kikyo's just been really busy and I figured it'd be best to give her a little time to rest on her only day off."

Sango knew something was wrong, but she figured if it was a big problem Inuyasha would come to her like he normally did. Refusing to pry any further, she decided to let it go...at least for now. "Okay, see you tomorrow." They went to opposite sides of the hallway and unlocked their doors.

* * *

Inuyasha dropped his bag by the door and called Kikyo.

"Hi, hun."

"Finally! I've been calling you for days."

"I'm so sorry! I've been so caught up in work and finals that I hardly have enough time to breathe. Please forgive me."

Inuyasha could never stay mad at Kikyo. He loved her far too much to be mad over something so small. "It's fine. I just missed your voice that's all."

"I missed your voice too. And I miss you."

Inuyasha's heart was beating like a drum. Even though he figured she didn't mean it, it sounded so good to have someone miss him. "I miss you too. By the way, I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?"

"Uh…one of my co workers asked me to go to the film festival on Sunday and I said I'd go. I hope you don't mind. I'll make it up to you next week, I swear."

"Don't worry, It's fine. Enjoy yourself."

"Okay. I'll talk to you soon. I love you."

_Click_. The tone of an ended call pierced his eardrums and slithered into his heart.

"Kikyo hung up the phone without saying it back. I know she heard me." Inuyasha sat on the couch feeling dejected with the phone still to his ear. 'She doesn't love me anymore. I just know it. What the hell am I doing with my life?' He thought as his phone slipped out of his hand and onto his lap.

'If she's tired of being with me, she should fucking say so!'

Inuyasha was distracted from his depressing thoughts by a phone call.

"Hello?" His voice sounded dreary as he picked up.

"Whoa, what's eating you?" His friend asked in a concerned tone.

"A lot of shit, actually. But what's up, Miroku? When are you coming home?"

"Next week! I'm so glad this semester came to a close. I can't wait to catch up with you and Sango."

"Ah, yeah. She misses you like crazy."

Miroku sighed wistfully. "I've missed her beautiful face as well. There isn't a woman in the world who could steal my heart away like she has."

"Speaking of women…"

"Having lady troubles, my friend?"

"It's a little more complicated than that."

"You mind elaborating?"


	6. Be Honest With Sango

_The Next Morning_

Inuyasha got dressed in the morning and headed over to Sango's. She sent him a text earlier and asked him to come over for breakfast.

Inuyasha could honestly say he would be lost without Sango always being close by but he knew one day she'd be gone too. She and Miroku intended to get married and buy a house in America. What would he do? Who was he supposed to share his life with? He felt like Kikyo was slipping away so quickly and so suddenly like sand between his fingers.

* * *

"Inuyasha! You didn't tell me you and Kagome knew each other before she started working at the store."

"Yeah I did. Remember a little over a year ago I told you about that weird teenage girl who kept getting herself into trouble and calling me asking me to pick her up from a shitty part of the neighborhood?"

Sango pondered over it for a second and snapped her finger upon remembering. "That's right! Aww that was Kagome? Poor baby. The way you spoke about her, you seemed so worried."

Inuyasha nodded as he stuffed scrambled eggs in his mouth.

"She seems far too sweet and innocent to get herself in any trouble."

"That's what I said. But she promised me she's not getting into any more trouble."

"That's good." Sango smiled as she brought her cup of coffee to her mouth. "Ahh! So…were you the one who referred her for the job?"

"No. I hadn't seen or spoken to her since the last time she begged me to pick her up. She just…ended up there."

"Really? What a coincidence."

"Hmm." 'Coincidence is an understatement. First she calls my phone by mistake, then she starts working at my job? That's more than a coincidence.' He thought to himself as he continued eating.

There was an amiable silence in the dining room amongst the two as they finished their breakfast.

"So Inuyasha. You wanna tell me what's been going on? You were awfully evasive yesterday."

Inuyasha's nerves tightened up. It was only a matter of time before Sango would go there again. She _never_ lets things go. "W-what are you talking about?"

Sango gave Inuyasha a stern and deadly look: One that could scare anyone. "How long have I known you? Fifteen, sixteen years? You're better off just being honest with me." She also hated being lied to.

Inuyasha let out a big sigh and dropped his fork. He figured it was only right to come clean to her since he just got finished telling Miroku everything last night. "Okay...you got me."He said as he raised his hands up and hung his head down.

"I knew it! You're having problems with Kikyo aren't you?"

"It's way more confusing than that. Let me explain."


	7. Until They Met Each Other

_The night of the film festival_

Kagome, Sango and Inuyasha stopped at a drive-thru after the film festival and sat in the car talking about it.

"That summer romance movie looked terrible!" Kagome stated, laughing.

"Yeah, the addition of robots really destroyed it." Sango agreed.

"I'll only go see it if the robot kills everyone." Inuyasha added, a silly smile on his face.

Sango rolled her eyes. "You and Miroku are so obsessed with robots!"

"Who's Miroku?" Kagome asked, as she felt lost in the discussion.

"My boyfriend. He's coming home from college in a few days!" Sango smiled happily, clapping her hands.

Inuyasha was glad Miroku was coming home. The only downside was watching him and Sango throw themselves at each other. He wished his relationship with Kikyo were like theirs. Those two seemed so certain about one another; they even loved each other from a distance. They never had to question the other's love…and he envied that.

"Inuyasha, can you drive me to my dad's? I left my books there for my finals."

Inuyasha put the key in the ignition. "No problem."

* * *

Once Inuyasha reached Sango's father's house, Sango quickly jumped out. "Thanks! See you two later."

Once Sango was Inside, Inuyasha turned to Kagome and smiled. "I guess you want to go home too?"

Kagome looked at the time. It was only 8:30. "I don't have to be home until 11. U-unless you have other plans."

"Oh! Big bad Kagome has a curfew now, huh?" He said with a laugh.

Kagome laughed and gave him a friendly push. "Shut up! I told you things were getting back in order for me."

Inuyasha agreed it was particularly early. He could have drove to Kikyo's house and picked her up for a late dinner. 'Then again, she probably doesn't want to see me anyway.' "Well I ain't got anything else to do. Let's go to the park."

"Which park?"

"The one directly between your house and my apartment?"

Kagome was confused as she thought about everything in retrospect. "So we live a few blocks apart? This keeps getting weirder and weirder."

"I told you your house was on the way to my apartment."

"I didn't know what you meant exactly!"

"Now you know." He laughed as he drove in the direction of the park.

* * *

Once they reached the park, they got out the car and began walking around.

Kagome looked around nervously and quickly grabbed Inuyasha's arm.

He looked over at her, wondering why she grabbed him so suddenly. "Uh…"

"Oh...I'm just not a big fan of parks at night. They make me kind of edgy." She said with an awkward giggle as she held onto his arm.

"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you." He assured her confidently.

"I know." She said as she squeezed his arm tighter.

The two continued to walk arm in arm through the partially lit park, passing by couples young and old, teenagers passing around a joint and a few homeless people.

"It's so quiet here, even with people in the park." She said as they continued their stroll. "I don't come here often. Only a few times to watch my brother if he wants to play with his friends."

"Oh yeah? Well I come here all the time. I always sit over…here." He led her to a tree on the other side of the park overlooking the highway.

Kagome sat next to him in the grass facing the highway watching the cars pass behind the gate. She looked over at Inuyasha who was staring off past the gate. She didn't feel the need to wonder what he was thinking about or why he was so quiet. He just was the way he was and everything he did made sense.

Inuyasha caught Kagome's eyes on him as she pointedly looked away with an embarrassed blush covering her face. "What's the matter?" He asked.

"O-oh nothing! I wasn't staring at you or anything."

"Were too!"

Kagome giggled as her blush deepened. "I was just thinking about how much everything makes sense…and how it doesn't make sense."

"I don't get it."

"Well. Think about our friendship. How it came to be. Obviously we're in each other's lives for a reason."

"I know that."

"Whatever it is, I'm glad." She told him as she lied on his shoulder. "I appreciate you always looking after me."

Inuyasha ended up with the same blush on his face as she rested on his shoulder and some of her soft black hair brushed against his face. 'The way I feel about her is so wrong…but it feels so right.' He thought as he rested his head on hers.

Kagome and Inuyasha sat in silence, listening to the sounds of cars and people walking through the park as their hands rested on the grass touching, pinky beside pinky…but neither of them bothered to move.

For those wordless hours they sat there, everything was so serene. The breeze, the rustling sounds, the cars, the atmosphere. It was an incomparable feeling of ease and peace they had never experienced before.

Until they met each other.

* * *

Once it was time for Kagome to go home, He extended his arm for her as she held on with both hands and walked closely to him.

As the two walked through a park, they passed by a crazed homeless woman.

"What a lovely couple you two make!" She shouted out with a toothless smile.

The two blushed and Kagome slowly let go of his arm.

"W-We're not a—"

"Love is hard to find these days." The woman continued as she waddled closer to them. "You take good care of her, young man!"

They quickly walked out of the park and towards the shrine steps.

"Sorry. I guess it was my fault that was so awkward." Kagome said sheepishly as she rocked back and forth.

Inuyasha smirked and shook his head. "Nah. I'm not fazed by the things crazy old people say."

Kagome laughed and agreed to ignore the woman in the park. "Well…I a great time tonight."

"We should hang out more often."

Kagome gave him a nod of approval. "Let me know whenever you want to."

Inuyasha felt butterflies flocking in his heart and his stomach. "O-okay. Goodnight then."

She opened her door, stepped in and peeked out to shoot him a sweet smile. "Goodnight."

Kagome walked to her bedroom holding her face and grinning. She felt like she just came home from an incredible date. But it wasn't a date. It was just herself and a good friend who always looks out for her having a great time. That's what she told herself.

As Inuyasha walked home, he told himself he would stop thinking of Kagome the way he did and try to fix his relationship with Kikyo. He wasn't cheating on her but he thought having feelings for another girl was a terrible thing to do. He started to blame himself for everything that was wrong and labeled himself a bad person.

'Maybe it's my fault she's been so distant.'

* * *

Once he got home, he lied in his bed, still thinking about the evening. He decided to try and call Kikyo before it got too late but as usual…no answer.

"Is she asleep?"

Now Inuyasha was finally able to admit to himself how lonely he was. For months, he felt lost and confused about life. He got desperate for company and decided to call his brother, Sesshomaru. Not that the two had anything to talk about.

"Hello, little brother."

"Hey. What's…goin' on?"

"I just finished putting Rei to sleep. What about you?"

"Nothing, actually. I was just uh…bored, I guess."

"Well I'm glad to know you only call me when you're bored."

"Yeah, yeah…sorry about that."

"Are you sure nothing else is wrong? Is that apartment getting lonely, perhaps?"

"Hell no!" He claimed, but in all actuality, it was.

"You know you're welcome to come back home. Father left us both this house."

"I'll pass. Between you and your wife and all those kids runnin' around, I'd rather be here."

Sesshomaru chuckled on the other end of the phone. "I understand that building is close to your school and friends and it's walking distance from your mother's grave site, but you should come home, even for a short stay. Especially if you're lonely."

This was the only reason Inuyasha liked to avoid contact with his older brother. He hated when he tried to convince him to go back home. He liked being on his own. He just didn't like the loneliness that ensued.

"Nah. I'll manage on my own. I just…want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Uh, lately I've gotten strange fevers and my demon tried to come out a couple of times and I—"

"Did you sense any danger?"

"No. Not at all."

"Were you furious?"

"No."

"Then there's a girl involved. That's the only explanation."

'What the fuck is he talking about?' "Hold on! What does a girl have to do with anything?"

"There's a girl your fate has been tied to."

"Tied? Like a string?"

"More like a thread. A thread of fate."

"But I'm with Kikyo!"

"You can't fight fate, Inuyasha."

"I-I dunno. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, then."

Inuyasha attempted to ignore what his brother said. He thought Sesshomaru was making it up to mess with his head because he wasn't fond of Kikyo. It wasn't anything personal, but his brother _always_ told him Kikyo was wrong for him.

He tried to call Kikyo again but this time her phone went straight to voicemail. 'I'm starting to get tired of this.'

Inuyasha fell asleep wondering if he'd feel lonely forever.

* * *

**Thank you for the reviews! xo**

**-VQ**


	8. We're Friends Right?

_Two weeks later_

Kagome was rushing to work from school. While everyone from her job was enjoying their vacation, she still had a couple of weeks to go.

She got there ten minutes late and squeezed her way through the crowd. She hated the fact that she was late on a busy day. She went to the back, changed into her work uniform and went straight to the register.

As the crowd got smaller, she started to feel relieved. She had quite a few hectic days at the store and they were always brutal. Kagome did not like when people shouted and cursed at her. Not even her mother would shout at her. The days were always exhausting and overwhelming.

Kagome peeked over at Sango who looked ready to pass out on the counter until she was brought out of her sleepiness by a familiar face.

A stunning, long black haired and brown eyed woman wearing a blue dress approached the counter with a smile on her face.

"Hi, Sango." Her voice was calm and sweet when she spoke.

"Hi, Kikyo! What a surprise."

"Well I have a little more time on my hands since the semester ended. I decided to pay Inuyasha a surprise visit since I've been so neglectful."

Kagome had no idea what was going on so she just stood at the register awkwardly.

"He was in the stock room handling some inventory but he should be up soon. This is Kagome by the way. She's a good friend of mine and Inuyasha's." She mentioned, pointing to Kagome.

Their eyes locked and they recognized each other instantly. They had seen each other before. Not once, not twice but many times. They just hadn't known each other's names.

Kagome pretended she didn't know who she was or what she was _really_ about and put on her fake smile. "Nice to meet you, Kikyo!"

Kikyo was nervous about her. She knew Kagome and the place she had seen her was a place that could not only ruin her reputation, but her relationship as well.

However, Kikyo felt relief when Kagome smiled at her. She hoped it meant Kagome didn't remember her since it had been some time since they last saw one another. "Same here." She agreed with a fake smile on her face as well.

Inuyasha came back upstairs from the stock room and rushed up to his girlfriend.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" He asked, a big, giddy smile on his face.

"I just wanted to drop by and say hello, maybe get some lunch?"

"We can do that." Inuyasha said as he grabbed her hand and lead her out the door.

Sango looked over at Kagome who seemed to be extremely bothered by something. "Is something wrong, Kagome?"

Kagome hadn't even realized her face had blatant displeasure all over, nor did she realize her brows were furrowed in frustration. She was thinking too hard about the immeasurable amount of guilt she felt knowing something so upsetting about Kikyo.

"No, no I'm fine. I'm just a bit surprised is all. I didn't even know Inuyasha had a girlfriend."

As Sango tried to put two and two together, she assumed Kagome was upset that Inuyasha hadn't told her he had a girlfriend because she might have liked him. Maybe she felt like he was leading her on? Either way it went, it seemed to be Inuyasha's fault and she felt sorry for Kagome.

Sango definitely had the wrong idea. The only thing bothering Kagome was the fact that Kikyo was a fake.

The two were both distracted from their thoughts and assumptions by another rush of customers.

After each one was gone, Kagome excused herself to the locker room and began to eat the lunch her mother packed for her.

As she was eating, Inuyasha returned. He sat across from Kagome at the table and she couldn't even meet his eyes.

"You okay?" He asked. Inuyasha didn't like the look on her face. He wanted to take care of whoever—or whatever was bothering her.

Kagome wasn't doing a good job of hiding her feelings on this particular day and everyone could see that she wasn't in the best mood.

This became her only opportunity out. "No, as a matter of fact. Is there any chance I can go home early? I feel like I'm coming down with something." She lied. The only thing she was coming down with was a severe case of guilt.

"Sure. But why don't you just stick around in here? Your shift ends in a half hour and I can drive you home."

Kagome wanted to get away from Inuyasha until she could sort things out. She couldn't sit in his face knowing the type of person Kikyo was and not tell him about it. "No, I think I should leave now. Thank you for the offer."

Kagome grabbed her bag, clocked out and walked out the door. She didn't even say goodbye to Sango.

Sango watched Kagome walk out as Inuyasha came behind the counter to take over the register. Sango turned to him and punched him in his stomach.

"The hell was that for?" He asked, slowly inching away from her.

"_Why_ did Kagome leave? What did you say to her?"

Inuyasha gave her an annoyed look. "She said she was feeling sick and wanted to go home! What are you blaming me for?"

"Because you can be a real jerk, that's why. Why didn't you ever tell Kagome about Kikyo? You brag about her constantly to everyone else except Kagome."

Inuyasha was completely lost. "I don't know why I never told her. Kikyo just never came up in our conversations. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Ugh! She probably feels slighted. I think she likes you and feels like you lead her on."

"What? That's ridiculous! I never did anything to lead her on!" He defended himself. Sango sounded crazy to him.

"You didn't see her face when she saw you and Kikyo together. She looked so hurt and angry!"

Inuyasha refused to accept what Sango was saying. She absolutely had to be wrong. But…he couldn't help but worry about possibly hurting Kagome, even if it was unintentional. He promised himself he would look after her. He wanted to protect her, not break her heart.

"Well I'm gonna find out what's going on."

* * *

Inuyasha headed home as soon as his shift was over and dialed Kagome.

Kagome was at home lying in bed when her phone rang. 'Inuyasha…' As much as she wanted to avoid him, she couldn't resist the urge to pick up and talk to him. This was the first time he ever called her. "Hi."

"Hey. You feeling alright?"

"I'm fine now. Thanks."

"You sure you were just feeling sick? Is there something you wanna talk to me about?"

Kagome really wanted to get off the phone with Inuyasha. She wanted to avoid him as much as she could until she got things sorted out. Was it really the same girl? Would Inuyasha believe her if she told him?

"Inuyasha. You and I are friends, right?"

"Course we are!"

"Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend? I guess I feel out of the loop since you've never mentioned her before and we talk all the time."

Inuyasha knew Sango was wrong. Still, he felt bad for holding back information from Kagome. "I didn't mean anything by it. To be honest, Kikyo and I haven't seen each other very much lately."

'I bet.' Kagome thought to herself.

"So talking about her is kind of depressing." He continued. "I wasn't keeping it a secret from you."

"I believe you, Inuyasha. How long have you two been together?"

"About a year and a half."

Kagome shook her head. She met Kikyo almost two years ago. 'This isn't good at all. How can I break this to him?'

"Do you...love her?"

Now Inuyasha understood the real reason he didn't mention Kikyo. Talking about her to Kagome was awkward.

"…Yeah." He started to think Kagome made him feel like loving Kikyo was wrong. Like he was on the wrong path. It didn't make any sense. 'Maybe I'm just psyching myself out.'

'He doesn't sound too certain. Maybe this will be easier than I thought.' The moment Kagome opened her mouth to tell him, she couldn't. She didn't know what to do. She felt so bad for Inuyasha that she started to cry. 'He won't believe me. Love is so blinding.'

"I want you to be happy, Inuyasha."

'Why does it sound like she's crying?' "Kagome, are you crying?"

"No." She replied through her tears and obvious cries. "I'm just tired."

'Sure. Just tired she says.' "What's really going on, Kagome? Are you that mad at me for not telling you?"

Kagome needed a serious way out of this. Maybe pretending to be mad at him would be a good opportunity to avoid him for a while. "Yes, I am mad."

So maybe Sango _was_ right. He felt like an idiot. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think—"

"No, don't apologize. It's no big deal. I'll see you on Monday."

Kagome hung up and sighed.

'Wait a minute. Why _am_ I crying? Is it really just because I feel sorry for him? Or maybe…it's because…

I know I would never treat him that way.'


	9. I Can't Tell Him

_The next afternoon at Sango's_

"And then she started crying on the phone!"

"Uggggh! Inuyasha, you idiot!" Sango growled out as she tackled him. "How could you hurt her like that!"

"Miroku, get her off of me!" Inuyasha shouted as he begged for mercy. "I didn't do it on purpose!"

Miroku laughed and pulled Sango away before she killed Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, I suggest you give the young lady some time before you attempt to speak to her again."

"What if she doesn't wanna talk to me anymore?" He asked as his chest tightened at the thought.

"Hopefully she will accept the fact that you are seeing someone else and want to continue the friendship."

"And if she doesn't?" Sango questioned.

"Well then it's all Inuyasha's fault for not being straightforward."

Inuyasha leaned his head back on the couch and groaned loudly. "Why is it _my _fault? What was I supposed to say? Oh hey you like cheese fries? By the way, I have a girlfriend! What the fuck!"

Miroku sighed and shook his head. "Speaking of cheese fries, let's go to the mall."

* * *

Kagome was at the mall in the food court with her school friends Yuka, Eri and Ayumi.

"Well you can't be mad that he didn't tell you he has a girlfriend if you didn't tell him about Koga." Eri stated.

"I told you, I'm not mad at him. I just didn't want to smile in his face knowing his girlfriend is a cheater. And Koga is _not_ my boyfriend! Not yet anyway."

"So you mean his girlfriend has been two timing him their entire relationship?" Yuka asked.

"That's terrible! You should tell him." Ayumi figured.

Kagome shook her head. "I can't tell him."

"Why not?" They all asked at once.

"Because Inuyasha won't believe me! Especially after I made it look like I was jealous of her."

"Well…are you jealous?" Eri questioned with an eyebrow raised.

Kagome sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno."

Kagome had no idea that Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku were also in the mall. Thanks to Inuyasha's incredible hearing, he was able to overhear their entire conversation from the other side of the food court. He recognized Kagome's voice and started listening harder when he heard his name being mentioned.

"So how did you find out about the two timing girlfriend?" Ayumi asked.

"Well, it was about two years ago when I first met her at Kanna's house."

"Sato Kanna? The one whose father is a…" Ayumi looked around to make sure no one was listening. "A drug lord?"

Kagome nodded. "That's the one and her father is the one Kikyo was with. Kikyo is probably only three or four years older than me but Kanna's father is nearly fifty!"

The girls all shuddered in disgust.

"Well if it was two years ago, how do you know she's two timing him?" Eri wondered.

"Inuyasha said they've been dating for a year and a half. I went to Kanna's house a lot until a year ago. Aside from that, I spoke to Kanna on Skype two months ago and she told me her father and his 'long time' girlfriend were getting married this year!"

"That's beyond two timing! Tell him!" Yuka ordered as she banged her fist on the table.

"I want to but…will he believe me?" Kagome sighed and took a sip of her soda.

* * *

Inuyasha's ears drooped upon hearing the disturbing information. Sometimes he hated his ears and now was one of those times.

Of course, he didn't believe Kagome. Maybe she was wrong, maybe it was just a girl that looked like Kikyo but he definitely did not believe what she was saying. Either that—or he didn't want to believe what he had heard.

"Inuyasha what's wrong?" Sango asked as she rubbed his shoulder. "Are you still upset about Kagome?"

Inuyasha just nodded and put his head down on the table.

"Inuyasha, try to remain calm for the time being. Enjoy your weekend with us." Miroku cajoled as he stroked Sango between her legs.

"WHAT'D I TELL YOU ABOUT DOING THAT IN PUBLIC!" She shouted as she gave him a slap that echoed through the food court.

* * *

Kagome and her friends heard a shouting voice and a harsh slap.

"I recognize that voice! Be right back you guys." She told her friends as she got up and walked to the other side of the food court. " I knew that was you, Sango!"

Sango's expression lightened up and she unclenched her fist. "Kagome? What are you doing here?"

"Just a little shopping. I stopped here to get some food with my friends from school."

"Oh, well...This is my boyfriend, Miroku." Sango introduced the guy holding his reddened cheek and shamefully looking down.

"Miroku. This is Kagome."

Miroku looked up at Kagome wide eyed. "Kagome?" He stood up, walked up to her and grasped her hands. "My, my. I've heard so much about you. It's nice to have a pretty face to match with a name."

Sango gave Miroku an ominous glare that he could feel without even looking at her. "Miroku if you don't sit back down, I will kill you."

Miroku quickly rushed back to his seat and rested his head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sango I'm such a bad boy."

Inuyasha stared at Kagome and didn't even look away when her eyes met his.

Kagome gave him a half grin with sad eyes that said 'I want to talk to you, but I can't because I don't know what to say.'

"Well, I'll see you guys later. I don't want to leave my friends hanging. It was uh...nice meeting you, Miroku!" She waved as she walked away.

Sango glanced over at Inuyasha who looked more crushed than before. 'She didn't even say a word to him.' "Maybe we should go do something else."

Miroku agreed. He dragged Inuyasha out of his seat and they left the food court.


	10. Confused

_Monday_

Kagome came up with an idea to work up to telling Inuyasha. First, she wanted to make sure he knew she wasn't mad at him or jealous. When she got to work, she waved at Sango, then walked up to Inuyasha.

"Hi." She gave him a bright smile.

Inuyasha wasn't surprised she was speaking to him. He was a little bothered by what he overheard in the food court over the weekend but he didn't want her to know he was eavesdropping on her and her friends.

"Hey"

"How was your weekend?"

"Fine. What about yours?"

"Same here. Uh...Sorry about the way I was acting the other day."

Inuyasha didn't care about how she acted or what he overheard. He just wanted things to be okay between them. "Don't worry about it."

Kagome smiled and gave Inuyasha a hug.

Kagome's hug was warm and full of emotion. How could someone hug your body and hug your soul at the same time? He was confused about a lot of things already and while the hug was nice, it confused him more.

They smiled at each other and Kagome went to change into her uniform.

Inuyasha started to feel feverish again so he asked Kagome to switch jobs with him and do some inventory counting while he ran the register.

* * *

Monday was normally a slow day for the store so Inuyasha and Sango were at the counter just talking amongst themselves when a young, blue eyed wolf demon came towards them.

"Excuse me? Hi. My name is Koga. I'm looking for Kagome."

Inuyasha's eye twitched when he heard the wolf say his name. He remembered Kagome mentioning him to her friends at the food court and having a face to match the name definitely struck a few nerves.

"And why are you here? Kagome is _working._ That's what you do at work. Come back later." He sneered.

Sango pushed Inuyasha out of the way. "I apologize for his _rude _behavior. Kagome should be clocking out for lunch in a few minutes." She turned to Inuyasha. "Go get her!"

"Yeah. I'm goin." Inuyasha went downstairs to get Kagome. He angrily stomped down the steps. 'A wolf? Really, Kagome?'

Inuyasha looked around for Kagome. He found her bent over a few boxes recording her count and he was staring at her legs. That feverish feeling came back again as Inuyasha tried to ward off his inner demon. He imagined lifting her skirt up, pulling her panties down and...That's where he shook his head and forced the thoughts out.

'Damn. She IS the reason I've been getting all these strange fevers. My brother was right. What do I do?'

Kagome turned around and shot Inuyasha a smile when she heard him step closer. "Hey, I'm just finishing up." She then noticed he looked a little pale.

"Are you feeling okay?" She asked as she stepped closer to him.

Inuyasha did not want to be near her. He never experienced those fevers before or the conflicting feelings. He didn't know what he was going to do if she got too close—or what his demon would do.

"I'm fine." He assured her, waving his hand. "There's some loser here looking for you named Koga or something."

"Koga? Hey! He's not a loser!" She defended him fiercely, a hand on her hip.

The fire in Kagome's spirit made it harder for him to fight off his demon. "So what's the deal? You dating this guy?"

Kagome shook her head. "Not exactly. We've just been…talking…sort of." She said, playing with her fingers.

Inuyasha shook his head and headed towards the stairs.

"Wait! Why are you shaking your head?" She called out.

"No reason." He continued up the steps without looking back.

* * *

Inuyasha stopped at the counter and glared at Koga. "Kagome said she's coming. Her lunch break is only 10 minutes so you better make this quick."

Sango pushed him out of the way again. "Her lunch break is a half hour!"

"Not today! As of right now lunch breaks are only 10 minutes long."

Sango rolled her eyes and ignored Inuyasha. "I'm sorry. He's an idiot."

Kagome finally came upstairs and gave Koga a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back, you guys." Kagome waved as the two walked out the door.

Inuyasha scoffed in disgust. "She couldn't do better than a wolf?"

Sango gave Inuyasha an angry look. "What's _your _problem?"

"Nothing! I just don't like the guy and I said I'd look out for Kagome. That's all I was doing."

"Why are you being so over protective all of a sudden? Kagome has come to terms with the fact that she can't be with you and moved on. Shouldn't you be glad?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Not really."

"Exac—wait! Did you say not really?"

"Remember that conversation we had a few weeks ago about Kikyo?"

Sango's mind went back to the conversation the two had.

"_I knew it! You're having problems with Kikyo aren't you?"_

"_It's way more confusing than that. Let me explain."_

"_Go on."_

"_Kikyo has been really distant lately, over the past five months. Yeah she's a busy woman and whatnot but usually she always made time for me. It's not the same anymore. She's not the same anymore. She doesn't even seem to care much about me."_

"_Maybe she's dealing with a lot of stress?"_

"_I don't know but I'm tired of calling her all the time and she ignores my calls and messages. I didn't realize how problematic this was until this other girl came into the picture."_

"_What girl?"_

"_Just…some girl I know. We've never done more than talk but she makes me feel confused. Like maybe I don't love Kikyo as much as I thought I did. She makes me happy and I want to be around her. Not romantically but…more than Kikyo and it confuses me."_

"_Don't do anything rash, Inuyasha. If you feel like things aren't going well, you need to communicate with her."_

_"Every time I try to talk to her, she doesn't pick up the fucking phone!"_

_"What about when you see her on Sundays?"_

_"I...usually don't feel the way I feel now when I'm with her. I feel like I was wrong about my assumptions. Then when she leaves, I feel lonely again."_

_"Lonely? Inuyasha, you can't be with someone just because you're lonely. That will not work out for you."_

_"But I love her, Sango!"_

_"Do you really? You doubt her, you're confused, you're hurt and you're thinking about another girl. This isn't love! It's a mess!"_

"_We've been together all this time. I wanted her for a year before we started dating exclusively. I need to make things between Kikyo and I stronger so I can abandon these confused feelings."_

_"Well then you need to speak to her the next time you see her."_

_"I know."_

Sango gave him a blank stare. "_Kagome_ is the girl you were referring to? The one that makes you feel confused?"

Inuyasha shrugged "And she's the reason I get all those fevers. Every time I get near her I feel strange."

It took everything in Sango's power to avoid punching his lights out. She knew what the fevers were just as well as Sesshomaru did.

"Inuyasha..." Sango spoke through her clenched teeth. "You're making a big mess. You can't go back and forth between girls. You need to leave Kagome alone. You already have someone."

"I can't, Sango. First she calls my number by mistake, then I find out she lives right near us, now she's working here. Can I really leave her alone if she keeps finding me? I bet if I moved to Timbuktu she'd find me there."

Sango couldn't find the right words to say. She wanted to stop Inuyasha from hurting anyone but even she knew you can't fight fate.

"Kagome knows something about Kikyo—something bad. I'm waiting for someone to come clean and tell me the damn truth. I don't know what's going to happen from here on out and I don't really want to believe what I overheard."

"Overheard? When?"

"The day we went to the mall. I heard Kagome and her friends talking—about me. And Kikyo."

"W-What'd she say?"

"I'd rather not talk about it right now...it may be false information." He told her as he walked off.

'What is going on?' Sango asked herself. The string of coincidences that brought Kagome and Inuyasha together was one thing, but she knew Kikyo too? It was all too much for Sango to absorb. She just agreed to be there for Inuyasha every step of the way. 'Knowing him, he might screw this up and end up all alone. He doesn't seem to know what he's doing at all.'

* * *

Kagome and Koga went to the nearby WacDnalds.

"Hey, Kagome? Is that half demon dog guy your boss or something?"

"Sort of. He's the assistant store manager. Why?"

"Well he was really rude to me like he had a gripe with me about something."

Kagome's plan was backfiring. She was hoping Inuyasha would be glad she was seeing someone else, not picking on them. Then again… "Inuyasha is rude to everyone." She laughed nervously. "I hope he didn't offend you in any way."

"Nah, but thanks for worrying about my feelings." He smiled as he held her hand.

Kagome liked Koga but it wasn't enough to make her want to go steady with him. She hoped after getting to know him better she'd like him even more but they just didn't click.

Her heart was confused about a multitude of things. She figured maybe she would like Koga more if Inuyasha didn't make her feel so confused.

Kagome started talking to Koga a month before she got her job at Shinjuku Fashion. He was a great catch, unlike her last drug dealing boyfriend. Koga was at the top of his class, he was very active in clubs and one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. But he seemed so wrong for her.

After she started spending time around Inuyasha, she was more interested in being around Inuyasha than forming a relationship with Koga, even if things between her and Inuyasha weren't romantic.

'But it would make one _crazy_ love story.'


	11. She Said Always

_The next day_

Koga came to pick up Kagome and take her home from work. While she was getting her things and clocking out, Koga had to deal with Inuyasha again.

"You're back again?"

Koga knew he couldn't be rude to Kagome's assistant store manager but he certainly found him annoying. "Yes."

"Well next time wait outside. We have a 'no pets allowed' policy." He huffed.

"Inuyasha, leave the kid alone!" Bankotsu intervened. "Unfortunately, this store doesn't have a 'no dorks allowed' policy."

The two laughed together and Koga tried his best to keep his composure for Kagome's sake. He just laughed it off.

"What did I tell you about bothering him?" Sango shouted, slapping both of them. "I'm really sorry about them."

"Don't worry, it's not a big deal." He said with an optimistic smile.

Kagome returned to the counter with her bag and tugged at Inuyasha's ear.

"Hey! Not my ears!" He shouted, trying to pull away.

"Kagome's getting kinky over here!" Bankotsu called out.

Her eyes shot daggers at Bankotsu as he smiled widely. "Stop being so mean to Koga." She said to Inuyasha as she let go. "Bye, everyone!" She waved and left with Koga.

* * *

Inuyasha unlocked his door and was surprised to see Kikyo inside waiting for him.

"Surprise!" She said with a smile.

"It definitely is." He smiled back and gave her a kiss.

"Well since I have more time on my hands, I figured I'd give as much of it as I can to you."

As usual, Inuyasha was so blinded by love that he forgot all about his issues with Kikyo and what he overheard in the food court. He just knew Kikyo was giving him love and attention.

The two were on the couch lying in each other's arms resting and enjoying each other's company for a while.

Inuyasha noticed Kikyo's scent changed slightly but he wasn't sure what it meant. He figured it probably had something to do with her female cycle and ignored it.

"How was work, Inuyasha?"

"It was pretty much the same as always. My co-workers always make it interesting."

"Speaking of your co-workers, my love…I'm not too fond of that Kagome girl."

'She doesn't like Kagome?' "Why not? Did she say something to you when you came to the store?"

"No. I just don't trust her. Try not to spend too much time around her, okay?"

Inuyasha was beginning to grow suspicious. Kikyo never had a problem with any of his female friends, but she has a problem with Kagome? He didn't like that at all and something in him snapped. Sango was right about him not knowing what he was doing.

"What's the problem? What did she do?" He continued to grill her.

"S-she…she's just. I don't know. I wouldn't trust her around you." Kikyo spat out as she stammered over all her words.

"Why not? I want to know exactly what your problem is with her."

Kikyo felt backed up into a corner and her calm answers started to sound frustrated and overly defensive. "Why are you protecting her so much? Are you messing around with her?"

"ARE _YOU_ MESSING AROUND WITH SOMEONE?" He shouted.

Kikyo froze. Did Kagome say something? 'No, she couldn't have.' She thought as she released an irritated sigh. "All this fuss over a stupid teenage girl." She shoved his arms off her and headed towards the door. "Call me when you're ready to grow up and stop putting your friends before your girlfriend." And she slammed the door behind her.

Inuyasha got up and dragged himself to the kitchen. He leaned against the counter in deep thought, forgetting why he went in there in the first place. 'Did I just argue with Kikyo about Kagome? What am I doing?'

* * *

Inuyasha walked over to Sango's and knocked on the door.

Miroku answered soon after with a carton of milk in his hand.

"What's up, Inuyasha?" He asked as he brought the carton to his mouth.

"I need to talk to you and Sango. I just did something really dumb."

"Story of your life!" Sango yelled from the kitchen.

Inuyasha sighed and rolled his eyes. "Can I come in?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Miroku told him as he opened the door wider. "Tell us what happened."

"I had a fight with Kikyo about Kagome." He replied sadly as he plopped on the couch.

Sango came out of the kitchen and gawked at him. "How did Kagome even come up in your conversations with her? I thought you two were supposed to be strengthening your relationship, not talking about your other woman."

"Other woman?" Miroku spoke up in an intrigued tone. "I didn't know you and Kagome were involved in that way, Inuyasha."

"Oh come on! I never touched that girl!" He said in his defense.

"So then how did Kagome come up?" Sango asked.

Inuyasha told Miroku and Sango the details of their argument and the two came to the same conclusion.

"She's cheating on you." They said at once.

'Why is everyone fucking saying this?' "No! T-That's impossible! She goes to school, works, takes care of her sister, when the hell would she have time to cheat on me?"

Sango shook her head disappointingly. "You're dense, you know that? How do you know Kikyo is at home when she goes to sleep? Or that she's really in class all the days she says she is? Can you verify these things?"

"Why do I need to verify everything? Can't I just trust the girl I'm with?"

"You must trust, but verify, Inuyasha." Miroku explained. "Sango and I trust each other but we also have valid and verifiable reasons to trust one another."

"And we communicate constantly." Sango added.

"Guess that's why things are so good between you two." Inuyasha said in a sad, small voice.

"Inuyasha, how do you feel right now?" Sango asked as she sat next to him.

"Dunno. I still don't think Kikyo is cheating. She doesn't seem like the type to-"

"Didn't you learn from meeting Kagome that some people just don't seem like the type to do certain things? It doesn't always make them bad people, but you can't just look at a person and know what they're going to do."

"Speaking of Kagome." Miroku cut in. "Sango was telling me you overheard her saying something in the food court about Kikyo. What was it, exactly?"

Inuyasha clenched his fist and breathed deeply. He felt like all odds were against him. He still refused to believe what was being said and what was heard about the girl he'd been with for so long. He figured he knew her better than anybody. "She was basically saying what you two were saying. And that she's two timing me with some older guy."

"So what are you going to do?" Miroku questioned.

"Do? I'm not gonna do shit. I'm gonna stick by Kikyo and believe her."

Sango didn't like what Inuyasha was doing...or not doing, for that matter. "You seriously don't believe any of us? Not even Kagome?"

"I..I just think you're wrong."

"I know what it is." Miroku said confidently.

'Oh no, here it comes. The psychology major reading into shit as always.'

"You're afraid of the truth because you don't want to be alone. It also bothers you that Kagome is seeing someone else so you can't have her either. In other words, you'd rather stay in this relationship with Kikyo simply because the loneliness is more unbearable than the betrayal."

"I don't have to sit here and listen to this!" Inuyasha shouted as he stood up.

"Where else are you gonna get the truth? From Kikyo?" Sango shot back.

He glared at her coldly and let himself out.

"Maybe I was a bit too harsh." She said, biting her lip as she turned to Miroku.

"Not at all. Inuyasha is the type you need to be brutally honest with, whether he wants to hear it or not." He told her as he sat next to her. "But now that he's gone..." Miroku began to nibble on her ear and fondle her.

"You can't ever keep your hands to yourself can you?" She sighed as she pulled the milk carton out of his hand and got up.

* * *

Inuyasha sat by the windowsill in his apartment enjoying the breeze from his window.

"What the hell am I supposed to do? I know Kikyo wouldn't cheat on me. I believe in her."

He began to reminisce about special moments with Kikyo.

_The two were in Kikyo's backyard lying on the patio hand in hand counting all the stars they could see._

_"The sky is so clear tonight. How many stars do you think there are?" Kikyo asked curiously._

_"Billions." Inuyasha told her as he looked over at her. "No matter what, there will always be stars in the sky."_

_"Well as long as there are stars in the sky, I will always love you. Even if you can't see a single star."_

_Inuyasha's eyes widened as his entire face went red. "Y-you're my first love."_

_Kikyo smiled and stroked his warm, red cheek. "And last. We will always be together."_

Inuyasha laughed off everyone's assumption. "She said always and I believe her."

* * *

**thank you guys for the reviews and feedback ^_^ **

**xo**

**-VQ**


	12. Sick Week

_The Following Monday_

Kagome clocked in and noticed Inuyasha's locker was open and his laptop was inside. She carried it out to the counter and looked around for him.

"Ayame, where's Inuyasha?"

"He took a sick week, babe."

Kagome was concerned. Inuyasha's sick? He took an entire week off? "A sick week? What does he have, the plague?"

Ayame giggled and shrugged. "He didn't sound sick when he called this morning."

As the two were talking, Sango came up from the stock room. "Hey, Kagome."

"Hi, Sango. What's up with Inuyasha taking a sick week?"

"I'm not sure. I knocked on his door this morning and he said 'go away there's nobody here.'"

Kagome nervously bit her lip. "I hope he's alright. I'm going to check on him later."

Sango raised her eyebrows and chuckled. "Good luck convincing him to let you in."

* * *

After Kagome's shift was over, she picked up some take out for Inuyasha and went to his apartment. Her heart started pounding and she felt incredibly nervous as she was about to knock on the door. In that instant, she pulled her hand back.

'What if he doesn't let me in?' She thought. 'Well. I'm already here.' Kagome took a deep breath and went for it. She knocked on the door and heard Inuyasha's footsteps and him opening the peephole. He unlocked the door but left the chain on and stared at Kagome.

"What do you want?"

'Well that's certainly no way to talk to someone who bought you dinner.' "I thought you were sick."

He faked a cough. "I am sick. See? I'm contagious. Come back another day." He shut the door but didn't lock it. 'What is she doing here? I don't want her to see me like this.'

"No! I bought you food and your laptop. I didn't come here for no reason now let me in. I know you're not sick." But if he's not sick, what else could it be? "…Did something happen with Kikyo?"

Inuyasha was silent for a minute before he removed the chain from the door and let her in.

Kagome got a good look at him. His eyes drooped like he was either high or didn't get a minute of sleep. His hair was a complete mess and his shorts were hanging off his butt showing his boxers. He looked like a slob…a miserable one at that.

"Here. I got some food from the restaurant by our job we always go to."

Inuyasha grabbed the bag and went into the kitchen without so much as a thank you.

Kagome ignored his awful attitude and looked around his apartment. It wasn't nearly as messy as he looked. He had a large living room, nicely furnished and modern. The red paint on the wall and the paintings were a nice touch.

"Your apartment is beautiful." Kagome said.

"I didn't make it look like this. Sango did. I don't know shit about decorating."

'At least accept the compliment.'

Inuyasha set the table in the dining room for them to eat.

The two ate in a melancholy and deafening silence. Occasionally, Kagome would look at Inuyasha and smile. He'd stare at her blankly, then just look back down.

Kagome could tell he was hurting.

"So…you live here by yourself?"

"Yup."

"Don't you ever get lonely?"

"…Nope."

The way he paused before responding told Kagome otherwise. She could only imagine how he felt at the moment and the way he shut himself up in seclusion during a time when he was hurting couldn't be healthy.

"Inuyasha. What's with you? Why did you call out from work? And for a week at that!"

"I already told you I'm sick. Are you deaf?"

"No! And I'm not stupid either. Tell me the truth."

"Yeah! Like you told _me_ the truth?"

Kagome got quiet. She wasn't sure where Inuyasha was going with his statement or what he was implying.

"Why are you upset with me?"

"I overheard you and your friends talking about Kikyo at the mall. Why didn't you tell me? Why did you have to lie to me?" He shouted.

Kagome felt horrible. Not only did Inuyasha find out on his own, he heard her say it to someone else. She destroyed the trust between them. "Inuyasha. I'm so sorry. I tried so many times to tell you. I just…didn't want to hurt you. And I didn't think you would have believed me."

Inuyasha was actually angrier about the fact that Kagome was right than the fact that she didn't tell him. He sighed and rested his chin on his hand. "I'm not mad at you. You're right. I didn't believe it when I heard it but the truth came out the day before yesterday."

_Inuyasha was at home with Kikyo. She came over and apologized for her attitude and he forgave her._

_The two were sitting down watching a movie when Kikyo leaned in and kissed him. Their normally sweet and loving kisses quickly heated up and turned sexually passionate as Kikyo began to grope him and slide her tongue into his mouth._

_Inuyasha was aroused by what she was doing but he was confused. He made a promise to Kikyo he would respect her vow to celibacy. Why was she coming onto him like this? "Kikyo...what are you—"_

"_Make love to me, Inuyasha." She pleaded as she ran her fingers down his chest._

_"N-Now? What happened to the vow you made?"_

_She shook her head and began unbuttoning his pants. "It doesn't matter. I know I want to be with you. We don't have to wait any longer. I love you." She climbed on top of him and continued to kiss him more._

_Inuyasha was getting more into it when a strange scent set him off. He pulled away from the kiss and began to sniff Kikyo._

"_What's wrong?" She asked._

"_Y-you…you bitch!" He shouted as he moved from beneath her. "You're pregnant! I can smell the scent of another demon's blood in you."_

"_B-but Inu—"_

"_So that's what you were trying to do? You wanted to have sex with me then pin the baby on me? You think I'm a real fucking idiot don't you?" He demanded to know as he stood, pacing back and forth. There was no way she could say that baby was his. That unfamiliar blood would have easily proved otherwise._

_Kikyo slowly sat up. "Please stop pacing. Let's talk about this."_

"_No! Kagome was right about you, wasn't she! You've been playing games with me from the start! Why did you waste my time Kikyo? I loved you! I would…" He tried his best to force back his cries. "I would have fucking died for you. Why? Did I do something to deserve this?" He dropped to his knees and punched the carpet repeatedly._

_Kikyo began to cry. "Inuyasha! I didn't want to be with him! I-I just couldn't get away. He was helping me financially and I really needed—"_

"_You could have asked me for money! But instead, you fucking two–time me? I was so patient with you, Kikyo. You said you wanted to take things slow. I waited a whole year before you even fucking kissed me. Then I respected your stupid vow—which turned out to be a fucking lie!"_

"_Inuyasha can we please work this out? I'm begging you."_

"_No! Go away! Leave your keys and get the hell out of my life. Go be with the bastard that impregnated you."_

_Kikyo placed her key on the coffee table, walked towards the door "Inuyasha. I do love you. I'm sorry." And shut it behind her._

_Inuyasha got off the floor and locked his door. He threw all his pictures with Kikyo in the garbage and anything she had given him. After all his old things were in the garbage, he lied in his bed with a bottle of vodka and drank it straight. _

Inuyasha stayed up all night until he passed out. When he woke up, he crawled to the kitchen, ate some cold pizza and started drinking more vodka. He had been drinking all day up to the time Kagome got there.

Inuyasha was slightly drunk, but more sad than drunk. He was just a complete mess in general. He felt so stupid and ashamed. He trusted the wrong person when the people around him who really loved him were trying to protect him.

Kagome felt so bad for him. "You poor thing!" Kagome stood and hugged him, bringing his head to her chest.

Inuyasha's eyes widened when his face made contact with her breasts but he liked the closeness. He felt the need to open up to her, which was very unlike him.

"I'm so lonely, Kagome." He whined as he rubbed his head between her cleavage.

Kagome gently stroked his hair and his ears as he sighed heavily and whined.

"And stupid. I didn't believe anyone."

"You're not stupid, Inuyasha."

"I am! I wasted all that time with a girl who was dating someone behind my back."

"We all make mistakes. We just have to learn from them."

"I guess so."

"Come on, Inuyasha."

"Where to?"

"To get you cleaned up. You're a mess." She told him as she dragged him towards his bedroom.

She looked around and shook her head. "What did you do in here exactly?" His bedroom was in shambles unlike the rest of the house.

"I don't remember. I was so angry and I...was drinking."

Kagome knelt down and picked up the empty vodka bottle. "Yeah, I see that." Kagome put her hand on her hip and sighed. "Okay! You go wash the smell of liquor off yourself and I'm gonna get this place cleaned up."

"Why bother? It's just gonna get dirty again."

"I don't think it'll get this dirty. Now go take a shower. You're in the way." She told him as she pushed him out the room.

Once Inuyasha was in the shower, Kagome began to straighten up his room, throwing away bottles and any other trash thrown around on the ground. "I honestly wouldn't do this for anybody else. Really! I wouldn't!" She said as she wiped her forehead.

As the room started becoming more decent, the only thing left for Kagome to clean was his dresser. She straightened out all the photos and other random objects he kept up there when one particular object caught her eye.

'This is mine…' She recalled as she held the silver, pink and black ribbon in her hand. She remembered losing it in middle school and being so distraught about it since her father bought it for her.

"You want that back?" Inuyasha asked as he came in the room. "You left it in my car a while ago. I forgot to give it to you."

"My dad gave me this. It meant so much to me. You held onto it all this time?" She asked as she clutched it tightly.

"It was the only assurance I had that you were still alive somewhere. I figured you'd call one day looking for it or something." He told her as he looked around. "Thanks for cleaning my room. I haven't had a girl clean my room since my mom was alive."

Kagome blushed and held her ribbon to her face. "I-I just wanted to help you. I'll be here for you until you feel better. It's the least I can do."

Inuyasha smiled and gave her a hug. He was glad he met Kagome, even if it was under such peculiar circumstances. The way one coincidence after another kept forcing them together and pushing them into one another convinced him they probably were fated to be together.


	13. Pool of Amber

**Thank you for the reviews :) keep them coming!**

**-VQ**

* * *

Kagome continued to visit Inuyasha during his "sick week." On her last day of school and last day of the work week, She decided to go home first before going to Inuyasha's. She wanted to wear regular clothes for a change. It was finally time to abandon that uniform for a while.

Kagome was so glad to be there to support Inuyasha. She thought he was such a sweet guy, he didn't deserve to have his emotions toyed with. She felt so strongly about him and her need to save him like he saved her.

Inuyasha hadn't thought much about Kikyo at all. He was too preoccupied with Kagome. He was grateful for how dedicated Kagome was to him. She would go to his apartment every single day after school and work just to make sure he wasn't alone. She was perfect and a saint in his eyes.

He cleaned up his apartment, took a shower and put on some decent clothes. His heart skipped a beat when he heard her knock on the door.

"Hi. How are you feeling today?" She asked as she walked in.

"I'm fine." He didn't feel like his heart was broken at all. Kagome was able to heal his broken heart in only a matter of days. It was like magic.

"You sure?"

He nodded, even though deep down there was something not related to Kikyo that was slowly eating away at him...and Kagome could tell. Over the past few days, Inuyasha and Kagome spent a lot of time talking on a personal level and bonding to the point where they were so close, it scared them both. Inuyasha never felt lonely with Kagome in his life and Kagome felt like he was with her, even if he wasn't there.

"You're not completely fine." She said as she sat on the couch. "What's on your mind?"

Inuyasha sat next to her, constantly failing to make eye contact. "It's not really important. I guess I'm just trying to get used to being single again."

"Is that all?" She asked as though she already knew what was on his mind.

He knew he couldn't lie to her. It was impossible. So he took a deep breath before he began. "Well, Kagome I..."

Their conversation was interrupted by Kagome's phone going off. She reached in her bag and read the text.

_"Hey, beautiful. Wanna go out tonight?"_

Kagome stared at her phone for quite some time trying to think of the nicest way to tell Koga she didn't want to go out. She didn't feel like seing him. At all. Ever again.

"What's the matter?" Inuyasha asked.

"N-nothing. I'll take care of it." She told him as she began to write out her response.

"Is that Koga you're talking to?"

Kagome nodded. "He wants to go out tonight."

Inuyasha could feel his heart floating down to his stomach. "So...are you going?"

Kagome looked up at him. She could hear the deep sadness in his voice. "Don't you need me to stay here with you?"

"I don't need you to interrupt your own life to take pity on me." He said coldly as he folded his arms and turned away.

Kagome was instantly frustrated with Inuyasha. The nerve of him! He thought she was spending all that time with him because she felt sorry for him? "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I want to be here with you instead?"

As nice as that sounded, it was difficult for Inuyasha to absorb. "If that occurred to me, I wouldn't have asked if you were going on a date with your stupid boyfriend."

"He's not my BOYFRIEND!" She shouted.

"Thank goodness." He said under his breath.

Kagome heard him loud and clear. She raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. "Why did you say 'thank goodness'?"

Inuyasha blushed and looked straight in her eyes. "Because I…"

When their eyes met, Kagome melted before him. Seeing herself in a pool of amber, knowing she was his main focus caused her to blush as well. "Y-you what?"


	14. Kikyo Who?

**Warning: LEMON**

**but I'm sure when you guys saw the M rating you expected sexual content, especially from me**

**...little perverts ;D**

**-VQ**

* * *

Inuyasha gently ran his thumb beneath Kagome's chin and watched in adoration as her cheeks glowed. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers.

Kagome was beyond shocked by the kiss. Her body solidified the moment Inuyasha's lips touched hers.

He pulled away from the kiss, looked into her eyes and licked his lips. "Because I hated watching you be with someone else." He whispered as he pulled her back in.

Kagome returned his affections as he pulled her on top of him.

"That's exactly how I felt." She spoke against his lips.

"I understand. I'm gonna take that pain away." He replied flirtatiously, pulling her slim frame between his legs, earning a small moan from her.

Inuyasha bit his lip and closed his eyes as Kagome nibbled the side of his neck. The feverish feeling returned again as his body got hot and he could feel the demon inside him raging and fighting to come out. He harshly grabbed her butt and pulled her body even closer as she bit harder. He needed to have her that very second.

"Let's take this to the bed." He breathed out, squeezing the inside of her thighs.

Kagome realized how far things had gotten with Inuyasha so quickly and had to take a moment to think about her actions. "You sure we should do this?"

"Why the hell not?"

'He's serious.' "What about Kikyo? I thought you were still getting over her."

He smirked and shrugged. "Kikyo who?"

Inuyasha sat up and carried Kagome into his bedroom. He threw her onto the bed and climbed on top of her. He began to unbutton her shirt with his knee grinding into her as she breathed heavily.

"N-no, Inuyasha. We can't." She whined, pushing his hands off.

"I need you, Kagome." He said, playing with the middle button between her breasts he intentionally left buttoned.

Kagome throbbed and ached below as Inuyasha kissed her stomach. "I need you too but..."

"I'll give you the opportunity to leave right now...if you want to." He said as he rubbed her warm skin beneath her mostly unbuttoned shirt.

Kagome lied still in the bed. She couldn't move. She needed to be right where she was in his grip. She stared at him anxiously as he smirked.

"You're gonna be so glad you stayed."

'But...you don't understand.' She thought to herself, unable to fight him off any longer. Kagome did what she often did: go along with what seemed like a bad idea without much worry about the impending consequences.

One side of her thought that maybe she hadn't leaned anything from her past mistakes. Then there was another side telling her there was no way this could be a mistake.

Inuyasha finally unbuttoned that middle button and placed his face between her white lace covered breasts, inhaling the vanilla scent of her body. He lifted his head and smirked upon noticing that her bra unhooked in the front. He easily pulled it open revealing the perky round breasts it covered.

He studied Kagome's face as she looked at him in awe, seductively biting her finger.

"I used to have dreams about your beautiful face. Now you're right here...with me."

He squeezed her breasts together in enjoyment, watching with a bright smile on his face when he would let go and they would bounce excitedly.

Inuyasha flew out of his shirt and began to pull down his shorts. "You have five seconds to take off your pants or I'll claw them off."

Kagome unbuttoned her pants and quickly slid her legs out. They weren't even off for a millisecond before Inuyasha sprung onto her. He planted a kiss on the warmth beneath her white lace panties and playfully pulled at the fabric with his teeth. Kagome was rocking her hips, begging for him to stop teasing.

Inuyasha pulled her panties down with one claw and pulled his boxers down. He laid his body against Kagome's; her wet clit pressed against his hard, her breasts pressed against his pecks and her neck pressed against his fangs. He rhythmically ground against her, following her moans and whimpers as he ran the digits of his fingers through her hair.

Kagome was growing impatient for penetration. She didn't want to seem desperate for it but she absolutely couldn't control the words escaping her lips. "Inuyasha! I want you _so_ bad!" Her eyes widened when the words slipped out. She had never felt like this before. 'Why can't I control myself around him? What's happening to me?'

Inuyasha kissed up her neck to her ear and gently tongued around it. "Not as bad as I want you." He spoke through his growls. He brought her legs onto his shoulders and slid inside her. The way her wet, flowing center sucked him in almost made his knees buckle. He couldn't think of anything better than fucking her—except loving her, but he was too afraid to tell her that part.

Kagome let out a groundbreaking sound, one between a scream and a moan that probably alerted all the neighbors, the second Inuyasha entered her. He was in so deep, completely part of her body every time he stroked all the way inside, causing her to leak and gush like a tidal wave. She could feel herself dripping onto his bed, but it wasn't her fault. Inuyasha was turning her into a river.

"You're all wet." He smirked evilly, stroking harder.

Kagome was absolutely on fire. Her blood turned into a river of flames and her body was sensitive to his touch. Every cell in her body tingled beneath him. Every layer of her skin craved him. She couldn't resist him and this was the best sex of her life.

"Inuyasha. I…I"

"What is it?" He asked as he sped up his strokes.

"I…" She let out a moan. "I…" She screamed out his name and finally said what she wanted to tell him. "I love you!"

The words that passed Kagome's lips sent a chill through Inuyasha's spine. That was what he wanted to hear so badly; more than her moaning, panting and saying his name. He let her legs down and slowed down his strokes. He lowered his body onto her and pressed his cheek against hers. "Don't say it unless you mean it."

Something about the sex with Inuyasha combined with Kagome's emotions for him made her blood fume. She didn't feel like herself. She felt like something was calling her, capturing her…even possessing her. Kagome mustered up all her strength and found a way to overpower Inuyasha and flip him onto the bottom.

Inuyasha lied in bed as Kagome took control of him. He didn't know she had it in her. His pride made him want to put her in her place, but he was curious about what she was going to do to him.

Kagome held his wrists down and sat on his chest, eying him like a predator watching its prey. "You _really_ don't understand." She breathed out. Kagome guided Inuyasha inside her and roughly bounced up and down on him, running her fingers down his chest as he moved his hips and met her movements.

Inuyasha's mouth fell open as he moaned and gasped for air. He grabbed her sides and began to control the rhythms of their sex.

"Inuyasha…I love you so much!" She confessed, throwing her head back as she screamed.

'This is so right. It's not a mistake. He's mine. He's always been mine.' She thought to herself.

Inuyasha lifted Kagome off of him and laid her on the bed. He spread her legs apart and glided his tongue inside her. He swirled his tongue around her, tasting the sweet honey that dripped from her. He lost count of how many times she came but he loved to hear her scream. It was like music to his ears.

Kagome grabbed his ears as he surrounded her clit with his mouth, sucking, licking, nipping and playing with it. The feeling of his purrs against her pleasure spot as she rubbed his ears brought her to her peak for the…well…she wasn't sure how many times either. She wasn't sure if she'd ever stop cumming. All Inuyasha had to do was touch her and she'd probably cum twice in a row. He just had that much power over her.

"Louder." He commanded, following one of her moans.

Kagome let loose and shouted his name at the top of her lungs.

After she climaxed once again, Inuyasha turned her over and slid into her from behind. The feeling of her ass rubbing against his body along with the sounds of it smacking against him and the naughty little sounds her vagina made—it was all so beautiful. The smacking, squishing and whining made the night perfect for him. The way Kagome made him feel, inside and out was powerful and unexplainable.

Suddenly, his fever was returning and he was beginning to lose control. He knew exactly what was going to happen and he couldn't stop it. Like his brother said, you can't fight fate. 'She said she loves me so it's okay. We're meant to be together.' He assured himself.

Kagome could hear Inuyasha's growling and huffing get louder. She assumed it meant he was going to cum but never expected what was about to happen to occur.

Kagome reached her climax once again, as did Inuyasha. He quickly pulled out of her and turned her over. She looked at his face confused, and slightly worried as he pinned her down to the bed and began to lap at her neck. 'What is he doing?' She wondered.

"I can't resist you, Kagome. I-I can't fight this."

She moaned upon feeling his fangs sink into the sensitive flesh on her neck. The feelings she had before started to increase. Not only did she love Inuyasha, she was his. He was everything to her. She wasn't sure if it was just the sex that made her feel so strongly but she was truly, madly, seriously in love and it was the only part that made sense.

Inuyasha licked the dripping blood and glared down at Kagome with some of her blood dripping down the side of his mouth. Of course, Kagome was confused. She had no idea Inuyasha bit her so hard he drew blood, nor did she understand why his face transformed. His eyes were vicious and red, his fangs were more prominent and he had markings on the side of his face. He looked more demonic than he did before.

After a quick moment, Inuyasha began to return to his old self and fell onto the pillow next to Kagome. He lied motionless like he was dead.

"Inuyasha? Are you okay?" She asked in a panicky voice, shaking his shoulder.

He nodded. "I love you too." And he began to snore loudly.

Kagome's heart expanded in her chest, pumping so crazily her ribs probably couldn't handle the pressure. Her love was too strong for her own body and the overwhelming feelings exhausted her. Also feeling tired from the beautiful sex, she lied on the pillow facing Inuyasha, pulled the blanket onto them and followed him to dream land.

* * *

Kagome woke up the next morning to Inuyasha licking the sore spot on her neck.

"Ow."

"Sorry. It's gonna hurt for a day or two." He informed her, kissing her cheek.

"What is it?"

"It's a mate mark."

'A mate mark? What the heck is that?' Kagome didn't know anything about demons or half demons.

"Is that what you did to me last night? What does it mean?"

He got on top of her and ran his fingers through the sides of her hair. "It means I love you." He smiled and kissed her forehead.

She wanted to question his judgment. Tell him maybe they were moving too fast. She wanted them to have something and be in love but she didn't want him to regret it later.

All her questions went out the window as he was tonguing between her legs.

"Inuyasha…we need to talk." She gasped out as she writhed in the bed.

"Hmm?" He continued licking and fingering her.

"Mmm…Inu…yasha! Harder!"

He complied as she breathed heavily.

Kagome didn't understand why she could never think straight every time he was close to her. "Wait…stop."

Inuyasha looked up at her, confused. "What's wrong?"

"We really should talk. About us."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you were so upset about Kikyo less than a week ago, now you're telling me you love me. What's going on? I have a right to ask. I don't want to get hurt."

Inuyasha got on top of Kagome and kissed her. "I'm never _ever _going to hurt you_. _Just trust me. Please?"

Kagome nodded and agreed to give him the benefit of the doubt. She still couldn't help but worry. No girl wants to be a rebound.


	15. Does He Trust Himself?

_Monday Afternoon_

Kagome woke up at noon and rushed into the shower. She was so exhausted from her wild weekend at Inuyasha's. All they did was have sex, snuggle in bed, eat food and have more sex. While she didn't mind the mind blowing sex, she was wondering if that was all there was to their relationship.

"I have to hurry or I'm gonna be late!"

* * *

"Inuyasha. Are you _sure_ about this?"

"Sango, I'm in love! This isn't what I had with Kikyo. This is supernatural. We were born for each other."

Sango studied the look in his eyes. They were soft and twinkling like he reached Nirvana. "Alright, Inuyasha. Don't you dare hurt Kagome or I will kill you."

"I won't do that! I will take good care of my girl." He spoke confidently as he went down to the stock room.

Soon after, Kagome showed up. She waved at Sango as always and clocked in. She stood at the other register as Sango kept glancing over at her.

"You know, don't you?" Kagome asked her.

Sango nodded. "Well, I figured since you were at his apartment all the time, something was _bound_ to happen. I don't know what you've done to that boy but I've never seen him happier."

Kagome smirked and blushed. "I didn't do anything to him. But _he_ did something to me." Kagome showed Sango the mark on her neck.

"He told me about it. I was surprised myself."

"What does it mean? Do all the girls he dates get this mark? Is there something I should-"

"Slow down, Kagome! I'll explain everything." Sango knew plenty about demons. She was a Demonology major. "First of all, you're the only girl who has that mark. From what I understand, you're the only girl Inuyasha has ever been intimate with."

Kagome gave her a blank stare. "He-he never told me."

"He was probably embarrassed. Was he your first time?"

Kagome shook her head. "He really seemed to know what he was doing."

"Probably his instincts. Inuyasha informed me of all the strange coincidences between you two. His demon probably knew you two were fated and that's why you have the mark."

"What if we weren't fated?"

"He wouldn't have marked you. Demons don't go around marking girls they like. They have supernatural power. There are things they know and are able to sense. Which is which is why I'll never understand how Inuyasha can be so stupid sometimes." She said as she shrugged. "But he is half human so I guess that explains it."

Kagome laughed at Sango's statement. In the back of her mind, she was concerned that maybe Inuyasha's human side had a different idea of what their fate should be. She was afraid of the end result.

Moments after their conversation, she received a text from Inuyasha asking her to come down to the stock room.

"Hey, Ayame can you take the register for me for a bit? I have to go downstairs."

Ayame nodded and ran behind the counter as Kagome went downstairs.

* * *

Kagome looked around the stock room behind all the boxes for Inuyasha. He surprised her as he snuck up behind her and hugged her from behind.

"Did you miss me?" He whispered in her ear.

"Of course!" Kagome blushed and smiled widely as he held her.

"Good. You better come home with me tonight too." He told her as he slid his hand between her legs.

Kagome bit her lip as she continued to smile to the point where her cheeks were hurting. "I will."

"When I get you home, I got a surprise for you."

"Is...it something dirty?"

"No. I was just gonna give you a set of keys."

Kagome giggled as he kissed her earlobe.

"Then I'll give you something else."

"Something else like what?"

"Like this." He pressed his erection against her butt and slowly ground against her.

Kagome gasped and let out a slight moan. Being mated was definitely a lot of fun.

"Here. Take this up to Bankotsu for me."

"Inuyasha this is a pink slip. Are you firing him?"

"No. We stopped using pink slips a long time ago. I just want him to come down here and help with the stock. He's been avoiding this for a month."

Kagome laughed at his little scheme and gave him a soft kiss. "I love you so much."

Inuyasha stood still and gawked with a smile like he was entranced. His entire face turned a fiery red as he flubbed his words. "I lo-love you too. So so much."

Kagome laughed because he did that every single time she told him she loved him.

She kissed him again and walked up the stairs.

* * *

Kagome got upstairs and found Bankotsu fixing a window display.

"Sup, Kagome?"

Kagome gave him a stern look and handed him the fake pink slip. "Inuyasha asked me to give this to you."

"The hell is this?" He wondered as he read the paper. His calm face turned angry as he read the paper. "He's gotta be joking! I'm getting fired? Where is he? I'm gonna kick his ass."

Kagome tried her hardest to keep a straight face. "He's in the stock room."

Bankotsu angrily marched his way over to the stock room. "No way in hell I'm getting fired. I have a kid to feed!'

Kagome laughed as he stomped through the store and she went back to the register.

"Inuyasha used the old pink slip to get people to work in the stock room trick again?" Ayame asked.

Kagome nodded while still laughing. She loved Inuyasha's silly ways.

* * *

Kagome and Inuyasha returned to his apartment that evening and immediately began their usual routine of stripping off each other's clothes and playfully nipping at each other's necks.

As good as Kagome felt when they touched, she couldn't help but wonder how things would be once this crazy stage was over. She wanted to know what her place in his life would be. She just wanted some indication that she was in no way a mistake to him.

She promised Inuyasha she would trust him but she couldn't help but wonder…

'Does he trust himself?'

'Does he truly love me?'

Kagome wanted to ask him how he felt deep in his heart and what made him choose her but she figured now wasn't the best time. She wanted to wait until the end of the week when his blood wasn't boiling.

"What's the matter?" He asked her as he had her pinned to the bedroom wall. "You don't seem like yourself today."

She didn't want to talk about it until the time was right. She pushed her thoughts to the side and focused on Inuyasha.

"I'm fine." She told him as she kissed his neck, right below his Adam's apple.

"No you aren't." He grabbed her hands and escorted her to the bed. "Lie down."

Kagome lied down and Inuyasha began massaging her back.

"This feels so nice. You're such a gentleman."

"Tell me what's wrong. You're stressed, sad and anxious. Does it have something to do with me?"

"How do you know that's how I feel?"

"I can just tell."

"I'm worried about...us. I feel so connected to you, but I'm afraid you'll regret being with me. Like it was too soon after being with Kikyo. And...as strange as this may sound, I don't think I can be with anyone else. Actually, I know I can't."

Inuyasha nodded in understanding as he turned her over, running his palms in gentle circular motions on her breasts. "You think about Kikyo more than I do. And you were on my mind more than Kikyo was since the day I met you. I knew my relationship with her was over months ago. I don't know why I held on for so long, but I just want to forget about her. All I see is you."

"I'm sorry. I guess I'm being insecure."

"It's fine. You could have just told me how you felt. I knew anyway."

"I just thought it would be best to wait until...you know."

Inuyasha chuckled and stroked Kagome's cheek. "You wanted to wait until my blood went back to normal, right?"

"Yeah." She giggled. "Sango told me about the whole mating thing."

He leaned in and kissed her, stroking her bang away from her eyes. "Well I understand you feeling that way. The first day I met you, I got this weird fever, and I got them a lot when I was around you. My brother told me my fate was tied to yours. If I was more connected to my demon I would have realized...those coincidences meant something."

"Can I tell you something honestly? Promise you won't think I'm weird for this."

"I promise."

"I was in love with you the day we met. I was so embarrassed because of the condition I was in when I saw you. I _wanted_ to be different. And you wanted me to be different too."

Inuyasha smiled. "We're soul mates and I really care about you."

"You know...I always thought mating meant having children."

"What? Do you want to have a baby?" He asked as he spread her legs apart.

Kagome laughed. "Not yet! But one day."

"Just remember, I know what I'm doing. Well...now I do. Being with you makes things a lot clearer for me."

"I'll keep that in mind...Oh and there's one more thing I need to tell you."

"Huh?'

"My mom wants to meet you."

* * *

**Hey guize ;D I'm really glad you're enjoying this story!**

**Thank you for reviewing & faving I appreciate it! xoxo**

**-VQ**


	16. Heartbroken in Kyoto

Inuyasha immediately became uneasy and concerned.

"Does your mother know I'm 19?"

"Yes."

"Does she know I'm a half demon?"

"Yes."

"Does she know I mated you?"

Kagome shook her head emphatically. "No! We can't tell her that part!"

"Why not?"

"Then she'll know we have sex and she'll be worried. I don't want to hear the 'birds and the bees' conversation again. It's too awkward."

Inuyasha laughed. "Oh…yeah. I guess that has to be a secret."

He mulled over the thought of meeting Kagome's mother. He was afraid she wouldn't approve of him.

"My mom will definitely like you. She likes everyone. It's my grandpa you have to win over."

Inuyasha sighed and plopped in the bed next to Kagome. "Alright so…when?"

"My whole family will be home Thursday. So how about that evening we have dinner at my house?"

"Sure…can't wait." He lied as he looked up at the ceiling and bit his lip.

* * *

_Three days later_

Inuyasha got up early in the morning and got dressed. He immediately knocked on Sango's door as if there were a fire in the building.

Sango came to the door in her pajamas rubbing her eyes. "What the hell do you want this early? Did you do something stupid again?" She asked in a raspy and irritable voice.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "No, idiot. Where's Miroku? We have some things to do."

Sango sighed. "He's in the shower. Come in. I'm going back to sleep."

Inuyasha went inside and lied out on the couch waiting for Miroku.

Fifteen minutes later, Miroku was dressed and ready to head out on some type of excursion with Inuyasha.

"Where are we headed?" He asked as he grabbed his keys.

"I looked through my whole closet for the perfect thing to wear tonight when I meet Kagome's family and couldn't find a single thing." He told him as they headed towards the elevator.

"Well you're visiting a family of respectable shrine keepers. You want to dress nice, but not go overboard. Most importantly, don't say anything stupid. You're known for that."

"Shut the fuck up!" He growled at him as the elevator door shut.

The two got in Miroku's car and drove to the Tokyo men's warehouse for the perfect outfit.

As they were browsing, there were two people nearby talking.

"Kanna, I don't think I should wear this."

"But father, you have to look incredible for your wedding. You don't have so much time to be this picky. You've turned down every shirt I've chosen." The girl sighed and hung the shirt back up.

Inuyasha pulled Miroku to the other side of the store. "Yo, I think that's the guy that got Kikyo pregnant." He said in a low voice.

Miroku looked up then turned back to Inuyasha. "What makes you say that?"

"Kagome said her friend Kanna's father was marrying his 'long time girlfriend' who happened to be Kikyo."

"Well there's an easy way to solve this." Miroku quickly snapped a photo on his phone of Kanna and sent it to Kagome with a message attached asking if she knew the girl in the photo.

Moments later, she replied.

"_That's my friend Kanna. Why? Where are you? How'd you know I know her?"_

"Damn. Kagome sure asks a lot of questions, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha shrugged as he continued to look around for a shirt. "Doesn't bother me."

"I'm just going to ignore her for a while." He said as he slid his phone back into his pocket.

"She'll call you if you don't answer."

"No she won't. She's probably too sleepy to bother with this right now." Miroku said as he handed him a pair of slacks.

After five more minutes of browsing, they found the perfect outfit and headed towards the counter. On their way there, Miroku's phone began to ring.

"Jackass." Inuyasha said with a cough. 'I told him.'

As Inuyasha went to pay for the outfit, Miroku nervously picked up his phone.

"H-hey Kagome, how goes it?" He faltered.

"Why didn't you answer my text? Where are you?"

"Oh…just out with Inuyasha."

"Okay so…why did you send me that picture of Kanna? Where did you see her? Can you tell me what's going on?"

Miroku began to shake because he didn't know if he was supposed to be in the middle of this strange situation so he pinned the phone to Inuyasha's ear.

Inuyasha snatched the phone. "Good morning, sweetie."

Kagome sighed on the other end of the phone. "Why isn't anyone telling me what's going on?"

"I saw that girl with her father and he called her Kanna and she said something to him about a wedding so I was trying to…find out if that was the guy that got Kikyo pregnant. I was just curious. I hope you're not mad."

"No, I'm not mad. It's not like you went out looking for the guy. But yes, that is him. I'm sorry you had to see him in person. You're not going to approach him, are you?"

Inuyasha looked up at the guy as he pondered over two shirts in his daughter's hands. He looked happy. Maybe Kikyo was better off with that older guy. "Nah, I wish them the best. Things worked out the way they did for a reason."

* * *

_That evening_

Inuyasha and Kagome were driving to her house for dinner. Kagome could tell he was nervous, so she decided to start a bit of small talk.

"You look very nice." She complimented.

"Thank you."

"Are you nervous?"

"Me? No, no what would make you think that?" His voice cracked as he spoke.

Kagome smiled and rubbed his shoulder. "Don't worry! My family is very excited to meet you. There's nothing to worry about."

Inuyasha nodded but he started shaking and sweating as they pulled up in front of her house.

Kagome gently wiped his forehead with a tissue. "It's okay. I promise."

He nodded and got out the car then opened the door for her. The two ascended the steps to her house and saw her little brother playing outside.

"Hey, Sota."

"Hi, Kagome." He rushed up to Inuyasha and smiled. "You're Inuyasha, right? It's nice to meet you!"

Inuyasha smiled and looked down at the small boy. "It's nice to meet you too."

Sota grabbed his arm and dragged him in the house. "Kagome told me you're studying filming in college. You gotta see this video I made of the inside of Kagome's mouth while she was sleeping."

Kagome's face went pink. "Sota! That's disgusting!" she shouted as she followed them into the house.

As Sota escorted Inuyasha into the house, he stopped in the kitchen and tugged at his mother's shirt.

"Mom, this is Inuyasha. I'm gonna show him the film I made of Kagome's mouth."

"That…sounds lovely, Sota." She said with an awkward smile before turning her attention to Inuyasha. She studied him with a stern face for what felt like hours before reaching out to touch his ears.

"Are they real?"

Inuyasha smiled and nodded. "Yep, those are my ears."

"It's nice to finally meet you. Kagome has told us so many wonderful things about you."

Inuyasha bowed before Kagome's mother. "Thank you Mrs. Higurashi. It's nice to meet you as well."

Not even a second later, Sota began dragging him through the house again and upstairs to his room. Kagome stood in the kitchen shaking her head. She refused to follow them and see such an embarrassing video of herself.

"He's very sweet, and cute." Kagome's mother told her.

"I'm glad you like him, mom. I really am." She told her as she hugged her.

"I wish your father could be here to meet him as well." Her mother whispered.

"Me too. I'm certain he's watching over us and sees all the good things happening for us."

The two smiled at each other and her mother released a happy sigh.

"Well, I should finish making this dinner."

"Okay. I'm going to get myself cleaned up." Kagome told her as she rushed up the steps.

Moments later, Kagome's grandfather appeared with a huge frown on his face.

"What's the matter, father?" Kagome's mother asked as she chopped carrots.

"So, who is this hooligan Kagome is seeing now?" He huffed.

"He's no hooligan, I promise you."

"I love you, darling but you're not the best judge of character. You even liked that last bum she dated and where is he? In boot camp!"

Ever since Kagome confessed to her family that she was on drugs, her grandfather stepped up and took on the fatherly role his son left voided when he passed away.

"But father…"

"How old is this boy again?"

"He's…19, father."

"19, you say?" He spoke out in an appalled tone. "This girl thinks she is grown! There is no way I will let my 16 year old granddaughter date a 19 year old, almost grown man."

"Just give him a chance…please?"

He rubbed the hairs on his chin as he pondered. "I doubt I will like him. But fine! I will be cordial. But when he leaves, you and I should discuss sending Kagome to live with her uncle in Kyoto. I refuse to have my only granddaughter getting in any more mischief! She's doing so well now. I will not let some _boy_ ruin her!"

She groaned disappointedly as she watched him walk away.

Kagome's grandfather was a tough nut to crack. Time and time again, he always pulled through and determined what was best for Kagome. Since her husband died, it became difficult for her to make those decisions on her own. Deep down, she felt like a failure because she may be the reason Kagome ends up heartbroken in Kyoto.


	17. As Long As We're Together

_Upstairs_

"You see the way that big spit bubble forms in her mouth when she breathes?" Sota explained as he showed Inuyasha the video he made.

Inuyasha watched the video in fascination and slight disgust. He loved Kagome but he's never thought about zooming into her mouth.

"Dinner's ready!" Their mother called out.

'Thank goodness.' Inuyasha thought as he followed Sota downstairs.

As they sat down and began to eat dinner, Kagome's grandfather continually studied Inuyasha.

Kagome and her mother noticed the looks her grandfather was giving Inuyasha and it made them both nervous. Kagome was already aware of the consequences of bringing home a guy her grandfather thought would be a problem, but Inuyasha was worth the risk. He was her everything.

"I've seen you before! I'd remember those ears anywhere." Her grandfather spoke out.

Inuyasha also started to get nervous. He was hoping Kagome's grandfather didn't see him doing something stupid, not that he could think of anything. "Where was it you saw me?"

"In the supermarket, three years ago! Some kids had stolen my shopping cart. It was you who helped me get it back and made sure I got all my groceries without any trouble! You were the kindest teenage boy I had ever encountered."

"What about me? I'm almost a teenager?" Sota interrupted.

"Sota, you're 9 years old! You're not almost anything! Now stop being rude!" Kagome reprimanded.

"I remember that!" Inuyasha said. "I saw those kids take your cart and I chased them out of the store. Thank you for calling me kind, by the way. I appreciate it."

"Never thought we'd meet again, but I'd gladly accept someone as benevolent as you into my family!"

"Thank you. That means a lot to me."

Inuyasha was relieved, and so was Kagome. It was very difficult—almost impossible for a guy to win her grandfather over. Ever since her father passed away, he took on that role of making sure the men that walked into Kagome's life weren't the wrong ones. Usually, they were, but not this time.

Not only were those two relieved, Kagome's mother was so glad things worked out the way they did. If it weren't for that coincidence, who knows what would've happened?

* * *

_Later_

Kagome and Inuyasha were sitting beneath the sacred tree.

"I can't believe you watched that creepy video Sota made." She said as she covered her face.

"What's the problem? It's not like I'm not already acquainted with the inside of your mouth anyway."

Kagome looked up and began to laugh. "That's so dirty!"

"Yeah…I know." He darted her bottom lip with his tongue as she slowly opened her mouth to allow it to slide inside.

He began to slide his hand up her thigh when

"Goodnight, Inuyasha! Come back soon!" Sota called from Kagome's bedroom window.

Inuyasha looked over at him and waved.

"Get out of my room!" Kagome shouted.

Sota quickly ran out of her room.

Kagome sighed before turning back to Inuyasha. "I'm sorry my brother is such a pain."

"You think he's bad? Wait until you meet my nephews." He said with a laugh.

"I think you should stay the night."

"That's a really bad idea." He told her as he shook his head.

"Why?" She whined. "I really want to sleep next to you."

"Oh really?" He glided his hand from her neck, down her chest and rested it between her legs.

Kagome whimpered and breathed heavily as his hand trailed down her body. "Okay, fine. Tomorrow I'm staying at your place."

"Your family doesn't mind you staying at my apartment?"

Kagome shrugged and smiled slyly. "I…kind of told them you live with Sango and they said as long as there's another girl living with you, it's okay."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Hey, whatever works." He said as he went to kiss her.

"I love you." She told him.

"I love you too. I'm so glad I found you. Or…you found me."

Kagome smiled as she ran her fingers through his hair and looked into his eyes. "Don't ever stop loving me."

"I don't know how to do that."

* * *

_The Next Day_

Kagome thought it would be fun to sneak up on Inuyasha while he slept. She got up very early in the morning and walked over to his apartment. She quietly unlocked the door and tiptoed inside.

Once she reached his room she smiled upon seeing him lying flat out in bed with the blanket over his face. As she readied herself to pounce on him, he rolled over in the bed, foiling her plan.

"I knew you were in here the entire time." He said in a sleepy voice as he took the blanket off his head and stared at her.

"Aww! You could have at least pretended you didn't know." She said as she climbed on top of him.

"I'll remember that for next time." He promised as he wrapped his arms around her. "I have to start getting ready soon."

"Where are you going so early?"

"I have to go register for classes."

"Really? So soon?"

"I've been thinking…you'll be finished with high school in 2 years, right?"

Kagome nodded.

"Well, I can finish college in two years."

Kagome liked where things were going so far, but she was still confused. "Then what will we do?"

"I don't know. That was as far as I got. Since fate brought us together and now we're, you know…together…I figured the rest was up to us. We have to plan our own future."

"I…guess I need to spend some time thinking about these things." Kagome said as she looked away. "I'm sorry. I just never thought about my future so much. Getting through the day was enough of an adventure for me." She told him with a nervous laugh.

"It's okay. I just wanted to make sure I was prepared for whatever you decide to do. I already know what I want to do. I just don't want to do it without you."

"Really?" She asked excitedly.

He nodded confidently. "Of course."

"What about Sango? What's she going to do in the future?"

"She's moving to America with Miroku. She's gonna write books and Miroku is gonna be a psychologist. They've already mapped their whole life out."

"So I guess it's our turn?"

He nodded again. "You take your time thinking about it. We have plenty of time. As long as we're together."

"Kay." Kagome rested her head on his chest and smiled. She had no idea what she wanted to do but she was going to focus even more and plan her life out.

'As long as we're together…'


	18. Even Before I Knew It

_3 years later_

With Sesshomaru's help, Inuyasha was able to put a down payment on his first house where he planned to spend his life with Kagome. They agreed to stay close to her family and she convinced Inuyasha it was best to be close enough to watch his nephews and niece grow up, even though they annoyed him so much.

"They'll get less annoying as they get older." She promised him.

Both of them stopped working at Shinjuku fashion last year and Inuyasha began working for Tokyo's largest film production company.

Kagome enrolled in college studying veterinary surgery. A few days after she had that life changing conversation with Inuyasha, there was a career fair in the area. She went with her friends and the veterinary studies booth was calling to her like it was the one thing she was destined to do.

Even though their fate was sealed, it wasn't simple. Inuyasha and Kagome fought constantly and often asked themselves 'why am I stuck with you?' then after a few minutes, hours or even days of sulking and holding grudges, they couldn't help but miss each other. They say when love is real, it finds a way.

But what are they doing now? Is anything exciting happening?

No, not really. Then again why don't we pry into their current life a bit?

* * *

"Okay, I'm off to work." Inuyasha told Kagome as he picked up his work bag.

"You don't want breakfast?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed.

"Nah, I'll grab something on the way. You get some sleep. I know you were up all night studying." He kissed her forehead as she lied back down. "I love you. I'll see you later." He said sweetly as he pulled the covers back over her.

"I love you too." She told him as he left their bedroom.

Inuyasha went downstairs and got in his car. He had quite a bit of time to spare so he drove to a diner to get something to eat. He ordered a breakfast platter and patiently waited for his meal.

"Mind if we join you?" A woman asked nicely.

Inuyasha looked up and his eyes widened as he saw Kikyo holding a toddler boy's hand. It was very awkward, but he was beyond over what happened in the past. "N-not at all."

"Shin, say hi to Inuyasha. He's an old friend of mine."

Shin bashfully waved at Inuyasha and covered his face. Kikyo sat next to him and smiled. "So how are you?"

"Great. Kagome and I got a house a few months ago and I've been doing some film production. How about you?"

"I'm in my last semester of graduate school so I'll be a cardiologist in no time. My husband is planning to buy another house in Hiroshima at the end of this year."

Inuyasha smiled and nodded. "So you're happy, then?"

She nodded surely. "I am. At first I was so confused, but now things are beginning to make sense for me. I hope you're not angry about—"

"No. I was furious at the time but then I realized…everything happened for a reason. Things are making sense for me too. I'm glad you're happy."

Kikyo's face shone with a relieved smile. "I'm glad you're happy too."

* * *

_That evening_

Kagome and Inuyasha invited Miroku and Sango over for dinner. They were leaving for America in a week and the couples wanted to spend as much time together as possible.

"So I spoke to my friend Susan the other day and she's helping us get everything settled in New York." Sango explained.

"What kind of name is Susan?" Inuyasha asked.

"It's an _American_ name, stupid!" Sango said as she rested her forehead in her palm.

Kagome laughed as she served everyone salad. "I'm going to miss you two so much."

"We'll miss you both as well." Miroku said sadly. "But we plan to visit every year."

"This is so sad!" Sango said as she grabbed Inuyasha in a headlock. "We've never been apart! What will I do without you?"

Inuyasha continually poked Sango in her side until she released his head. He gasped for air and smiled at her. "I guess we have to grow up now." He said as he turned and gave Miroku a death-promising stare. "Since you're taking my sister out of the damn country, you better take good care of her. And no means no!"

Sango and Kagome laughed as Inuyasha threatened him.

Miroku sighed and nodded his head. "You sound exactly like her father."

Inuyasha laughed and put his hand on Miroku's shoulder. "Well the guy practically raised me. What'd you expect?"

* * *

_That night_

Inuyasha was lying in bed waiting for Kagome to come out of the shower. He wanted to talk to her about something very important.

She finally came out in white lingerie and a black silk robe. She posed in the doorway and Inuyasha stared in fascination.

"Hey there, cowboy." Kagome said in a seductive voice.

Inuyasha stared at her in utter confusion. "Are we…roleplaying now?"

"I figured we could try it out." She said as she shrugged and got in the bed.

Inuyasha pulled Kagome on top of him and planted slow, soft kisses along her neck.

"I feel something hard under the sheets."

Inuyasha looked up at her and smirked. "You have no idea."

Kagome smirked back and shook her head. "No, I mean right here by your arm." She said as she felt around. "What is that?"

Inuyasha quickly went under the sheet and moved the object away. "It's a surprise."

"What kind of surprise?" She asked curiously.

"So a few years ago, there were a lot of things we needed to get done."

"Yeah, but we took care of practically everything. Our future is set!" Kagome replied excitedly as she played with his ears.

"There's just one thing I need you to do."

"You need me to do something?"

Inuyasha nodded and pulled the object from under the sheets. It was a small jewelry box. He slowly opened it and revealed the diamond ring to her.

"Say yes?"

Kagome stared at the ring as her face beamed. "Of course I want to marry you!"

Inuyasha slid the ring on her finger and kissed her. Kagome looked at her fiancee happily and ran her fingers down his cheek.

"Wait. I just remembered. There's another thing I need you to do."

"Does it involve giving me another hard object you're hiding under the sheets?"

Inuyasha nodded and smiled. "It's _all_ yours. I've always been yours."

"Even before I knew it."

_All it took was a string of coincidences to show two complete strangers how small the world really is._

* * *

**__THE END!**

**thank you SO much everyone who read, reviewed and enjoyed it! I love you guize :D**

**I'm working on a few fics right now, including a sequel to _Scarred Skin and Wounded Hearts _and I'm in the process of wrapping up _Alone Like This_ so look out for me and keep reading my stories!**

**xoxo**

**-VQ**


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